


Trying Hard To Keep It (a DLS sequel)

by blobfishbells



Series: Sweet Secret - abo/vampire [2]
Category: Produce 101 (TV), UP10TION, X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Alternate Universe - Werewolves Are Known, Bonding, Established Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Mates, Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Omega Verse, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Secret Relationship, Sequel, Smut, Up10tion member are mentioned, Vampires, Werewolves, X1 members are mentioned, read the first one, slight angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 43,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23589589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blobfishbells/pseuds/blobfishbells
Summary: This is a sequel to my other work "Dirty Little Secret"Wooseok's friends still don't know that his little omega friend has a vampire boyfriend. Meanwhile, new challenges appear in order to test the love of Wooseok, an omega with a cold exterior and Jinhyuk, a friendly vampire. The secret will have to be revealed at some point. Does love really conquer all?
Relationships: Kim Wooseok | Wooshin/Lee Jinhyuk
Series: Sweet Secret - abo/vampire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1698004
Comments: 35
Kudos: 97





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, beautiful people! ♥  
> I decided to make a sequel of Dirty Little Secret for all of the people who were wondering about its ending! hehe  
> Hope you enjoy it. This one is going to be a little longer but I plan to make this a five chaptered story, or maybe less!

“Welcome to the first meeting of our brand new club ‘it’s been ten months and we still haven’t met Mr. Stinky’. Club member Cho Seungyoun, what do we know about the subject so far?”

Seungwoo couldn’t help but release a little sigh. He should have known that the younger had called them to discuss Wooseok’s love life. He thought they would have dropped the idea by now but apparently some of them just couldn’t.

Yohan had called them all to an “urgent meeting” after Wooseok had left to his boyfriend’s apartment in order to celebrate their ten-month anniversary. He had to admit he was a little hurt that his best friend still hadn’t introduced them to his lover. He thought that after the ‘intervention’ they had had four months ago, it would have been a matter of days until Wooseok decided to finally reveal Mr. Stinky to his friends, but four months had passed with no news.

So here they were, sitting all together at a table in their favorite coffee shop, ideating a new plan to make their little friend finally introduce them to his boyfriend.

“I’m afraid we don’t know much. Except for the fact that his name appears to be Jinhyuk, he definitely doesn’t go to our university and seems to not have any kind of social media whatsoever; the last name is still unknown.” Answered Seungyoun who, contrary to Wooseok’s wishes, had researched on his own once the name of the mysterious lover had accidentally slipped from the doe-eyed boy lips.

“Don’t forget that he stinks.” Everyone at the table nodded after Hangyul’s remark.

“Yeah, but don’t you think it’s become somewhat bearable? I’m kind of getting used to it.” More nods accompanied the boy’s remark. “I mean, we spend a lot of time with Wooseok, we were bound to get used to it at some point.” He just shrugged after that.

The oldest at the table was wondering if it would be wise to share his suspicions about Wooseok’s boyfriend.

It wasn’t that hard to figure it out once he had connected the dots. The odor, the secrecy, why he didn’t have an Instagram since he most probably didn’t appear in any photos and the most important sign of all, Wooseok’s bonding mark.

He assumed the others hadn’t pay much attention to it but really, it wasn’t so hard to guess now that he had seen it. He also understood why Wooseok was keeping his boyfriend a secret from them.

It was kind of a delicate matter to introduce your vampire boyfriend to your wolf friends.

_________

At the same time, Wooseok was at the mall. He would go to Jinhyuk’s apartment later but first, he needed to buy a box and a bag for the present he had prepared. He didn’t know how he had come up with that sappy idea… Too many romantic movies maybe? Anyways, saying that he was embarrassed was an understatement.

It was the first time Wooseok had lasted more than three months dating someone and he honestly believed that he and Jinhyuk would be together for a long time. Just thinking about it made a little blush creep into his cheeks. But thinking about the future also worried him a lot, how would he tell his friends, his parents? They would probably have to go through a lot of difficulties in order to stay together.

Wooseok shook his head. It wasn’t the time to be thinking about that. “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” That had been his motto for the last few months.

It was already late when he arrived at his boyfriend’s apartment. He couldn’t wait to see Jinhyuk but at the same time, he was worried… He would like the present right? Was it too much? He had felt so happy while making it but now he was nervous.

Wooseok took out his key –Jinhyuk had given him a key to his apartment two months ago- and opened the door while taking a deep breath.

“I’m here”. When he opened his eyes, he encountered a rare sight.

The lights were off and the only thing that illuminated the place were the lights of the city that could be seen from the enormous window right in front of the table which was lit up by candles.

Wooseok had always been amazed by Jinhyuk’s flat. It was really big and kinda looked like it belonged to a rich businessman rather than a simple photography student like him. Naturally, he had asked about it and his boyfriend explained that his mother was pretty well off and had gifted him that apartment for his 20th birthday. “I’m still trying to gain enough money to pay her back though.” The vampire had said. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother. She has done so much for me… but I want to create my own path from now on.” Wooseok didn’t want to pry much about Jinhyuk’s family at the time but now that it had been several months since they have been going out, it was natural to be curious.

He would have to ask another time because right now, he was too busy being confused by the scene in front of him.

A little head appeared from the kitchen. It was Jinhyuk wearing a big smile. “Oh! You’re here already. I was started to get worried.” He came out of the kitchen wearing a striped apron, came close to Wooseok and gave him a little kiss on the cheek.

“What’s this?” Wooseok couldn’t come out of his stupor.

“Um… a romantic dinner…? Just if you want… If not, it can be a totally normal dinner.” Said Jinhyuk while scratching his nape.

“Jinhyuk… we both know you don’t eat.” Wooseok arched an eyebrow. “I mean… Can you even cook?” He was kind of skeptical about his boyfriend’s culinary abilities. They had gone to restaurants and ordered takeout but never –cooked–. God knew Wooseok sucked at cooking and Jinhyuk never had a reason to since he didn’t eat.

“I think you should be the judge of that.” Answered his boyfriend giving him a little wink, after that he took the smaller’s hand on his own and led him to the table. Wooseok was kind of moved but very rarely had the nerve to say those things out loud… He still had trouble expressing his feelings, even after having dated Jinhyuk for ten months. But the good thing about their relationship is that Jinhyuk could often read him like an open book.

Wooseok had had other relationships before Jinhyuk but they never lasted. Mainly because his past boyfriends would complain about his “lack of interest” in the relationship and his cold demeanor. It was no surprise that people would often misunderstand him and his struggle in demonstrating his feelings. Rumors had spread around his university quickly.

“Do you know Kim Wooseok from the music department? He’s so handsome. Is he an omega?”

“Yeah but keep away from him… He has a bad reputation of toying with alphas.”

“Someone is bound to tame him”

Quiet laughs would follow… He knew. Of course Wooseok knew all the things that people said about him and it had taken a toll on him. He was depressed for a long time. His friends had been a great help but he still didn’t understand why would people twist the truth like that… or maybe… maybe he was the real problem. He was an omega but he was too hard to handle. He wasn’t eloquent and cheerful like other omegas, that’s why all his lovers abandoned him, right?

But everything had changed when he met Jinhyuk.

Jinhyuk made him feel important, valuable and cared for. He didn’t need to say anything because the vampire just _understood_ him, no words needed. Jinhyuk spoiled him and made him feel loved. He didn’t feel that Jinhyuk had the need to tame him like other alphas, they just loved each other, no tags, no species, and no hierarchy. Only two people who cared deeply for each other.

Jinhyuk went back to the kitchen and came out with a covered tray. He saw his lover on that apron and the only thing that came to his mind was “cute”. Wooseok could see that he had put a lot of effort and seen to every detail: The silver cutlery that Jinhyuk kept stored somewhere was now on the table, the napkins were carefully folded, Jinhyuk had even pulled out the chair for him.

“Be our guest~ be our guest~.” The vampire boy started singing while uncovering the tray, on it sat a bowl of kimchi jjigae. The smell that came from it was too inviting to Wooseok’s surprise. He looked at the plate and then at Jinhyuk with a baffled expression.

“Don’t look at me like that! I promise it’s edible.” Said his boyfriend again with a nervous smile and then put his lips close to Wooseok’s ear. “I’ve got chicken feet on the fridge if this turns out to be a disaster.”

Wooseok tried to suppress a laugh while he caressed his boyfriend’s cheek and then looked at him with a tender expression. “You always think of everything.”

“I only want the best for my boyfriend.” Answered Jinhyuk and gave a little kiss into Wooseok’s palm. The omega swore he could have melted at that moment. With Jinhyuk he always felt in a honeymoon phase.

“Thank you for the food.” The wolf took the silver chopsticks and proceeded to try his boyfriend’s cooking. Jinhyuk was looking at him with a worried expression that Wooseok found too adorable. He brought a little bit of the kimchi to his mouth, savoring it carefully before giving an opinion. Contrary to his initial fears, the kimchi stew was tasty… it wasn’t the best kimchi stew he had tried but considering that the person who had made it was a vampire, it was rather good.

He was so lucky to have Jinhyuk… No one had ever gone this far to please him. It used to be the other way around, his former boyfriends expected Wooseok to do things for them but the truth was they barely did anything for him and Wooseok never found the need to please them.

But now… he felt bad, he felt as if he wasn’t enough for Jinhyuk. The vampire deserved someone who would go the extra mile for him, someone who didn’t hesitate to prepare cute gifts or plan fun dates. Without even realizing it, his eyes started watering. He knew Jinhyuk deserved better but he never wanted to let go of him. Was he being selfish? He just loved Jinhyuk so much, he didn’t want to lose him. He would do anything to stay with him if he could.

“Wooseok? What’s wrong?” Said Jinhyuk worried while taking a folded napkin and using it rapidly to wipe his little boyfriend’s tears. “Is it that bad? I’m sorry… Should I bring the chicken feet? Oh my god… What should I do? I won’t cook eve-“ Wooseok held the vampire’s face in his hands, effectively shutting him up.

“It’s perfect…” he looked at his boyfriend’s face with so much adoration. He was so lucky. “Everything’s perfect. The food is perfect…” Jinhyuk looked at him attentively, he knew Wooseok wasn’t done yet. “YOU are perfect.” The taller showed a little smile and put his right hand on top of his little boyfriend’s hand. “I love you so much…”

One interesting thing about them is that they didn’t say those three words often. Again… they just knew. Their relationship went beyond words.

Still, Jinhyuk couldn’t help to engulf his little boyfriend into a tight embrace and caress his hair. He also needed that kind of reassurance from time to time and Wooseok always used his words in the most precise moment.

“You are the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Kim Wooseok.”

They shared a sweet kiss, a little bit desperate, a little bit soft, perfectly imperfect, just like them.

“Fuck Wooseok… how can I let you eat now?” said Jinhyuk in between kisses. Wooseok wasted no time and put his arms around his lover’s neck, pulling his hair just a little to tempt him.

“I think… I’m hungry for something else…”

“Shit.” Mouthed Jinhyuk and in the blink of an eye, he took his apron off, held Wooseok in his arms and carried him bridal style to his room, stealing little kisses in the middle of their way there.

Once in the room, he dropped the smaller one gently on the bed, giving him a long and sensual kiss, his tongue caressing swiftly the omega’s bottom lip while he unbuttoned his omega’s shirt slowly. He opened it up at the same pace and caressed Wooseok’s torso with his big hand, setting every part of Wooseok’s body on fire.

Jinhyuk’s retreated a little from the other’s body while his eyes scanned every part of Wooseok’s beautiful figure. His sight went upwards until it stayed on the other’s shoulder. Wooseok instantly blushed when he noticed that his boyfriend was looking proudly at his mating mark. The vampire got closer to Wooseok again, keeping his eyes set on the mark and traced it slowly and sensually with his tongue. It made Wooseok shiver inside and release a little whimper.

“I love you.” Said the vampire against Wooseok’s ear, making Wooseok even more sensitive.

“I love your smell.” Jinhyuk brushed his nose against the smaller’s neck and inhaled deeply. Wooseok wasn’t sure if his boyfriend was being really honest. He remembered the scrunching of both of their noses during their first date, their scents being too foreign. However, he had to admit that now, he loved his boyfriend’s scent, even if his friends assured that Jinhyuk smelled bad, that same scent reminded him of the place where he wanted to be the most, of the person he wanted to be with the most.

“I love your taste.” The vampire gave a long lick against Wooseok’s neck and the omega had to suppress a moan. He was getting impatient but at the same time, he loved this game Jinhyuk was playing.

“I love feeling your pulse quickening every time.” Of course, Wooseok always forgot that his boyfriend had that ability… Maybe that was one of the reasons Jinhyuk understood him without him having to voice his thoughts.

“I love your pale skin… so beautiful.” Jinhyuk’s hands once again roamed through the omega’s body, pushing him towards the edge. His pants were starting to feel so tight he could barely hold it.

“I also love your voice…” One of the older’s hands flickered Wooseok’s nipple and applied a little pressure after making Wooseok moan. “Yes… that same voice.” Added Jinhyuk before sucking on the other bud eagerly, meanwhile, Wooseok’s moans became even needier. He could feel the slick beginning to form on his behind.

“I love those entrancing eyes that captivated me the moment I looked at them.” Said Jinhyuk looking straight into the other’s eyes, getting lost in them. The desire on his face was suddenly replaced by an expression full of tenderness. Was it possible for Wooseok to be even more in love? With Jinhyuk, everything was possible.

“I love you, Wooseok.” Said the vampire before kissing his lover’s lips delicately, as if there wasn’t a rush in the world. Tongues met briefly before retracting and meeting again, lips moving more eagerly as every second passed by.

As always, Wooseok tugged on his boyfriend’s shirt. Jinhyuk got the message and threw it over his head, discarding it somewhere on the floor. He did the same with his little boyfriend’s pants. Soon none of that would be needed.

But the impatient omega was still not satisfied, he sat up and pulled his lover to the bed by his belt. Once the vampire was lying on the bed, the wolf was quick, he quickly got rid of the other’s pants and underwear to stare in awe at Jinhyuk’s manhood. Wooseok licked his lips unconsciously.

“Like what you see?” wondered Jinhyuk with a cocky expression. He knew he was big, alright.

Without giving a response, Wooseok simply took the other’s member in his hand, giving it a light squeeze, effectively erasing that cocky expression out of his boyfriend’s face. Two could play the game Jinhyuk had started. Wooseok traced the veins on his lover’s shaft with his fingers, rejoicing on the groans Jinhyuk was letting out.

“Such a tease…” A sly smile made way into Wooseok’s face after hearing the remark. Even though he liked teasing his boyfriend, he was getting impatient as well so he started stroking his mate’s member with both his hands, whimpering just by the feel of it throbbing in his hand.

After a few strokes, Wooseok licked the tip tentatively, like a little kitten. Jinhyuk released a long sigh and Wooseok felt a big hand on his head, threading his hair slowly; a sign that he was doing a good job.

Again, the little omega wasted no time and engulfed the vampire’s shaft with his mouth, blowing a little here and there, flicking his tongue here and there. The hand on his head tensed and instead of gentle strokes, his boyfriend was now pulling his hair; another sign for him to continue. He continued, trying to put it in his mouth entirely. Once he was able to do it, he sucked on it eagerly and started bobbing his head, Jinhyuk’s hand accompanying the movement while the vampire’s moans filled the room. Wooseok was proud of himself.

Meanwhile, his own hand had made way to his own throbbing member, giving it a few desperate strokes.

He was getting good at this. The first time he had tried to suck Jinhyuk, the results hadn’t been so good but the other had reassured him that they only needed a little bit of practice. He had learned many new things with Jinhyuk and wanted to try only those things with him.

Suddenly, the hand on his hair pulled tightly, yanking him away from his treat. Wooseok was eager to continue but one look at Jinhyuk’s face told him that his boyfriend was eager to feel his insides.

Wooseok gulped. Jinhyuk’s lustful face always turned him on. Those black eyes staring right into his soul, the fangs making way through his lips, cock up and ready to fill him entirely. Slick was already pooling on his entrance.

“Come here, my pretty omega.” In everyday life, they rarely addressed each other’s species, they were simply Jinhyuk and Wooseok, a pair of boyfriends just like any other but whenever they had sex, hearing his boyfriend calling him his omega or mate always turned him on. He only wanted to submit to this man in front of him.

However, today was a special day, so instead of letting the other take the reins, he wanted to do something for Jinhyuk for a change.

“Not today.” Replied Wooseok while straddling the vampire. “Today I’m going to ride you.” Jinhyuk looked surprised at first but then, that same expression clouded with lust returned to his features.

Wooseok had already ridden Jinhyuk before but he had always done it following Jinhyuk’s instructions. He wouldn’t take the initiative because his omega was not accustomed to it. But tonight he wanted to surprise Jinhyuk, to show him that he was good enough.

“I’d like that.” Said Jinhyuk in a low tone. He was just as eager as his wolf boyfriend.

Without another word, Wooseok took his boyfriend’s cock in his hand and directed it to his hole. He took a deep breath and started inserting it slowly, biting his lips in the process in order to stop his whimpers from coming out.

“Don’t do that, let me listen to you.” Ordered Jinhyuk in the same voice and Wooseok complied, his moans increasing while he felt his juices coming out and damping Jinhyuk’s shaft, making his boyfriend’s member go deeper inside of him.

Once it was in entirely, Wooseok took a minute to look into his Jinhyuk’s eyes, who was also looking at him, a silent connection, a wordless declaration.

Wooseok started to move, slowly at first and keeping his eyes on Jinhyuk the entire time. They were both panting and groaning at this point. The only sound that could be heard was their erratic breath and the slapping of skin against skin.

“You… feel… so g-ah… so good.”

“Fuck… Wooseok…. You’re… so good for me”

The omega put his hands on his vampire boyfriend’s torso and tried to fasten his pace. Wooseok was in ecstasy. The feeling of Jinhyuk’s cock throbbing inside of him and filling him was too much to handle. He wanted more but he couldn’t go faster, his limbs didn’t allow it.

As if he had read his mind, Jinhyuk suddenly took hold of Wooseok’s hips and thrusted even deeper than before, eliciting a loud moan from his little boyfriend. Had he ever felt this good? The answer was easy. Jinhyuk was the best he had ever had.

He could hear the squelching sound coming from him and it aroused him even more. He collapsed in Jinhyuk’s chest while his boyfriend kept pounding on him with force. Wooseok was a moaning mess at this point. He hoped Jinhyuk was enjoying it as much as him. He lifted his head and his lover took that opportunity to kiss him eagerly, moans getting lost in each other mouths.

Jinhyuk’s fingers were pressing so hard on Wooseok’s hips that the omega knew there would be marks adorning his skin after that but he didn’t care at all. It was another silent proof of him belonging to Jinhyuk.

But… he also wanted to give Jinhyuk a mark. A way to let everyone know that he was taken, that nobody should dare to get close to his lover.

“Ji-Jinhyuk… Ah…. Can…. Can I… mark you… too?” The words had left his mouth before he could even think about it. He wanted to take them back. What if Jinhyuk refused? He wouldn’t be able to live with the feeling of rejection.

However, what he felt was something different entirely. He felt Jinhyuk’s member hardening even more and when he looked at the other’s face, Jinhyuk was wearing a candid smile. “Nothing would make me happier.” And they kissed again. Wooseok felt so relieved. There was no doubt about it, Jinhyuk was the one.

Jinhyuk pressed on Wooseok’s hips again and brought them back up into a sitting position, effectively reaching deeper into the omega’s prostate, the loud moan released by Wooseok being proof of that.

“Oh yeah…. Yeah… Right there… ah-“

Wooseok was a mess but he was Jinhyuk’s beautiful mess and the vampire wouldn’t have it any other way. He left little kissed in his boyfriend’s neck and ears while he kept pounding deeply, trying to fill Wooseok to the brim.

The werewolf felt so close to coming, just a few more thrusts and he would be screaming his lover’s name. But before that, he wanted to mark him.

He traced the spot between Jinhyuk’s neck and shoulder with his lips, leaving butterfly kisses there. After that, he licked that spot while the vampire kept pounding into him. It was now or never.

He opened his mouth and tried to use his full force while biting the spot. He could hear Jinhyuk hissing but still, he felt the other’s hand in his head, encouraging him. Wooseok even felt the pace of the thrusts becoming even faster if that was even possible.

“I’m coming…” said Jinhyuk in between groans. Wooseok only nodded, he was close as well.

A few thrusts more and Wooseok let go of Jinhyuk’s shoulder to release a loud scream, while little white streaks came out of his member. But he couldn’t relax just now because he felt his lover’s come filling him to the brim. He felt so full… His omega was satisfied.

Jinhyuk was panting hard, so was Wooseok but just one look made them enter into a trance again. Wooseok leaned in slowly and Jinhyuk met him halfway in a tender kiss. No words, only the sound of them kissing and the scent of rain and forest in the air.

After they had washed up, they decided to relax on the couch. The food had obviously cooled down so currently Wooseok was holding a bowl of reheated kimchi stew and relaxing on Jinhyuk’s lap while they watched the rerun of a drama on TV.

“Still can’t believe this is good…” Said the little omega while munching a bit of kimchi.

“It pains me to hear you didn’t have faith in your boyfriend.” Jinhyuk made an exaggerated face as if conveying betrayal.

“Sorry, Nyeok.” Replied the werewolf with an apologetic smile and gave his lover a kiss on the cheek.

“It’s okay… Happy monthversary, Woo.” Wooseok suddenly stood up with those words. **THE GIFT** … He hadn’t given Jinhyuk the gift he had prepared yet. Well, he wasn’t _actually_ going to give it to him, more like he would hide it somewhere in his boyfriend’s house and hope he would find it when Wooseok was already gone. He had never prepared such an embarrassing gift before so he didn’t want to hear Jinhyuk’s reaction while he was there.

The idea had come to him one afternoon at the dorm when he had nothing more to do than watch a show where they taught you how to make crafts. The lady was explaining how you could make a nice gift to your lover by writing little notes and putting them in a jar. Wooseok couldn’t stop cringing at the idea of giving something like that as a gift, SO embarrassing.

Yohan was watching the show with him and one comment from his friend changed everything. “Wow, I would love it if my lover gave me something like that.”

“Really? Isn’t it a little cringy? What if the notes are lame?”

“I would treasure them even then… Just knowing the person I love made them thinking of me is enough.” Yohan had sighed after that but the gears in Wooseok’s head were already turning.

“I have to go… To… um… the bathroom! Yes! Bathroom.” In one second, he was running towards the room, taking his backpack in the process.

Jinhyuk looked at him perplexed and then laughed.

“I thought this year he wouldn’t make me play scavenger hunt.” The vampire smiled. He adored Wooseok. He knew the other was embarrassed and wasn’t good at expressing his feelings. But that just made him even more adorable. Jinhyuk hoped Wooseok would open up more to him in the future but still, he enjoyed watching his boyfriend’s flushed cheeks and wondering eyes. “Surely he’ll put the present in the socks drawer.”

Jinhyuk laughed again and traced his fingers through the mark Wooseok had left on his shoulder. ‘I want to be yours completely so give your whole to me quickly, Wooseok’ thought the vampire while he waited for his mate.

Meanwhile, Wooseok was in Jinhyuk’s room, securing the little bottle with messages inside the socks drawer.


	2. It's a bad idea, me and you (hold me close while I think this through)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I-is anybody there?  
> I know I took too long to update this and I hate myself for it :'D  
> BUT, to make up for it, this chapter is pretty long.  
> In this chapter we'll learn how the hell a vampire and a werewolf decided that it would be a pretty good idea to date.  
> So, mind you, this chapter is 90% flashback. Hope you'll like it!
> 
> (PS. the title of the chapter is based on a song from the musical Waitress and I feel the lyrics math them so well haha)

A continuous clicking sound woke Wooseok up. He already knew what he would find once he opened his eyes, he had already grown accustomed to it by now. But that didn’t mean that his boyfriend could disturb his sleep like that, so he was going to complain anyways.

With his eyes still closed, he took hold of the pillow right next to him and threw it with force towards the source of the noise.

“Just because you don’t need to sleep doesn’t mean you can interrupt me when I’m doing it.”

Wooseok still had his eyes closed so he couldn’t see the other’s expression. The only thing he heard was some shuffling and then… that ‘click’ again.

“Are you even listening to me?” When the young werewolf opened his eyes, he encountered a scene he was already too familiar with. A camera pointing at him. And behind that camera, no other than his vampire boyfriend. 

Jinhyuk was a photography student and he was absolutely passionate about it. He never failed to bring his camera everywhere. He took pictures of EVERYTHING, scenery, objects, people but his favorite subject, his “muse” was, of course, his little lover. Wooseok had already gotten used to being photographed. The first time he noticed, he even tried to strike his best poses since he was aware of his own beauty and charm. However, whenever he did that, Jinhyuk would stop taking pictures of him. Wooseok learned quickly that his boyfriend liked to capture the “natural” side of him, this being the main reason why the vampire liked to capture the other while sleeping. “You are most vulnerable on your sleepy state” had said Jinhyuk one time Wooseok had asked the reason.

“Sorry. You were drooling in your sleep…so cute.” answered Jinhyuk while looking at the photos he had just taken, a satisfied expression on his face. Wooseok blushed involuntarily and tried to take the camera. He had always tried to look his best for his partners in the past. After all, they all had started dating him because of his looks so he had always tried to maintain that image. However, with Jinhyuk, it was the complete opposite. The vampire liked to see him bare and save that image forever. He had seen him with messy hair, without makeup, in ugly clothes, drooling, doing weird faces… and Wooseok had felt like he belonged, for the very first time in his life

Unfortunately, vampires’ reflexes were faster so he failed miserably in his mission of taking the camera from his lover. Jinhyuk just laughed and locked the camera in the drawer of his bedside table. Had Wooseok mentioned that no matter how many pictures Jinhyuk took of him, the taller man would never let him see them? Jinhyuk always said they were for his eyes only and even if he showed Wooseok the pictures, the younger would ask for them to be deleted.

“I made breakfast for you.” said Jinhyuk with a big smile on his face. Wooseok raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

“One successful meal and you already act like a chef?” Nevertheless, he got up from the bed, put his pants and one of his boyfriend’s t-shirts on and started making his way to the table.

Once he arrived and looked at what was on the table, he released a soft laugh. The breakfast was surely less elaborate than last night’s dinner but he was still happy Jinhyuk had made the effort.

“Hope you are not too disappointed? Cooking omelette is harder than I thought.” Wooseok glanced at the slightly burnt omelette with rice that was in front of him. He found it endearing because he thought the cooking would be a one-time thing. A little smile made way into his face while he took a bite of the plate in front of him. Luckily, the omelette tasted better than it looked but he couldn’t be much of a judge, he was the one who sucked at cooking.

Jinhyuk was looking at him attentively, like a contestant in Master Chef waiting for the judges’ opinion on his incredibly simple dish. Wooseok wanted to play a little so he made an exaggerated chewing motion while putting his best disgusted face. “I think I’ll better have the same as you,” he added with a playful look while pointing at the metal glass Jinhyuk was holding.

The vampire looked appalled for a second but he didn’t take long to notice that the smaller boy was joking with him. He just shook his head and took a long drink from his glass. Bless president Lee for the blood banks. 

President Lee Dongwook had been elected two years before. He was a loud advocate of the inclusion of all “species” and he had been constantly working to stop segregation and create unity among wolves, vampires, and humans. Of course, not everyone was as eager as him and his ideals had often been met with backlash. However, he never faltered and kept working towards his goal. 

Blood banks had been opened for the use of vampires so they wouldn’t have to hunt or harm anyone. Humans were encouraged to donate blood and in general, they all complied, it was for their own good anyway. Wolves were obviously banned from this activity.

Cafés, restaurants, sport centers, parks, theatres and cinemas were now open to all the public and not exclusive for any species. Suddenly humans, vampires and wolves found themselves sharing more space than before.

The president had also forced exclusive schools to open a special student exchange program. Wooseok’s university put the program into practice and was hosting ten human and ten vampire students. Honestly speaking, not many of his classmates were very thrilled with the idea of sharing their classes with vampires. Most students had changed to the morning shift since most of the “bloodsuckers” had chosen to attend the afternoon and evening classes.

Wooseok had always attended morning classes but the sudden increase in the student population made him uncomfortable sometimes, after all, he was still an omega and the overwhelming scent of alphas trying to impress the omegas had become a little too much for him. That’s why he had decided to take some afternoon classes. He didn’t think the vampire students would be THAT bad.

His first afternoon class had been awkward. When he entered the classroom, he noticed there really weren’t that many people and it was very easy to identify who was a wolf and who was a vampire. There were four vampire students and they were all sitting far behind, on the left part of the classroom. On the other hand, the sitting spaces on the right were taken by three wolves, one of them being his friend Seungyoun. Right in the center of the classroom sat two humans, seemingly unaware of the tension in the air and trying to strike a conversation with both sides.

He had quickly sat beside Seungyoun, not before taking a quick glance at the students sitting at the back. At that time, Wooseok had nothing personal against vampires, he just found their scent unsettling. Also, he had always been afraid of changes. He wasn’t eager to modify his everyday life and his circle of friends. If he could stay out of trouble then he would do just that.

The class progressed peacefully but the tension wouldn’t leave the place, no one dared to talk, no one dared to make a single move. Suddenly, an hour after the class had started, a body barged through the door, trying to catch his breath. 

_He smelled._

The little boy that had entered the classroom bowed to the professor and started rambling about how he had the wrong time of the class and didn’t have a map and how no one had wanted to help him get there. Seungyoun snickered and Wooseok felt bad for the vampire but apparently the professor was as intolerant as the rest of his wolf classmates and scolded him without holding back in front of everyone. 

All the wolves around him were having the time of their lives while the vampires at the back seemed uninterested. Humans just started gossiping among themselves.

The professor didn’t even bother to go through the lesson again and just went on with his speech. The little boy sat defeated behind the humans. Wooseok could see him scratching his head and looking through the pages of the coursebook, trying to guess what was the direction of the lecture.

At the time, Wooseok didn’t know that what he was about to do would change his fate forever. 

He took a little post-it note and wrote the page of the book they were discussing, after that, he stuck it on the poor vampire boy's table.

The boy’s face suddenly lit up while looking at the little paper. He looked at Wooseok with a thankful expression and smiled at him. Although his fangs were visible, the boy didn’t seem threatening or scary, he was almost cute. Wooseok couldn’t help but think that if this boy was a wolf, he would probably be an omega, just like him.

Three days later he met the same boy at the library. He really wasn’t interested in becoming friends with a vampire but it happened naturally. The boy had approached him so as to thank him for his help during the lecture and the rest was history. They became friends.

The boy’s name was Yein and he worked as a volunteer at the university’s library. Wooseok went there frequently whenever his roommate and his friends were being too loud. Yein worked there in the evenings and was basically in charge of locking up the library and making sure no one stayed wondering over there at night time. 

Wooseok and Yein only met each other late at night so that no one would bother them. They weren’t embarrassed but they knew better than to suddenly announce to the world that they were friends. Not everyone would be accepting of their friendship.

Everything went smoothly until one night in which Wooseok had fell asleep in the library. He had told Yein to wake him up at the closing time but instead of being awaken by his friend’s high pitched voice, it was an unfamiliar voice that took him out of his slumber.

“Come ooooon, Yein. Just help me this time. I promise I’ll return it as soon as possible.” said the stranger in a honeyed voice.

“Not risking it. What if someone needs that book? What do I tell them?” Yein sounded worried. He seemed to know the person he was talking to, though

“That you borrowed it?” suggested the stranger.

“Pff, yeah, as if they’re going to believe me. I don’t even major in photography. Do you forget the fact that I’m a vampire in a werewolf school? If they find an excuse to get me out they won’t hesitate to do it. I’m. not. risking. it.” 

Okay, the other boy was definitely a vampire. Wooseok wondered what to do. Should he make his presence known? Should he stay hidden? It was probably late already and he needed to go back to his dorm before Yohan started asking questions. 

“Anyways, you should go right now… If Wooseok sees you here, I could get in trouble.” So Yein hadn’t forgotten about his existence, yay!

“Awww but didn’t you say your dog friend was cool? Do you think he’ll rat you out?” 

‘Dog friend?’. Vampires weren’t really innovative with their name-calling these days. Still, Wooseok was a little appalled that someone else knew about their friendship. This guy couldn’t be any random stranger… He had to be a good friend of Yein and someone he could trust if he would go as far as admitting he was on friendly terms with a wolf.

He was curious. But you know what they said… curiosity killed the cat. Good thing he was a “dog”.

“Yein, what’s going on?” He heard a faint ‘shit’ and he had to control the chuckle that wanted to escape from his lips. Yein was probably freaking out, trying to find a way to hide his… friend? 

He thought twice before showing himself, after all, he would be in the presence of two vampires… not that Yein was THAT intimidating to begin with but what about the other man? Maybe he was one of those who hated werewolves but if that was the case… why would Yein tell him about their friendship?

There was no point in hiding anymore so he decided to make his presence known. He moved through the rows of books while trying to take a peek between them. Once he stepped out of the shelves, he was met face to face with the stranger.

He was… very tall. A total contrast to his friend Yein. His hair was gray and his skin was white as snow, as usual for vampires. And Wooseok would never say this about a vampire out loud but he was extremely handsome. They locked eyes for a couple of seconds, not saying anything to each other. It would sound kind of cliché but Wooseok found something intriguing in the eyes that were staring at him, like a riddle waiting to be solved. Both their stares didn’t falter but neither said anything, they seemed to be in some kind of trance. 

Wooseok didn’t miss the way the other smelled. He also stank but in a different kind of way. The odor was definitely different from his small friend. If he had to put a name to it… he would say this man smelled as if something was catching fire.

Yein, on the other hand, was standing on the side awkwardly, wondering how to face the issue of bringing a vampire who was not a student into the university’s library.

“Wooseok, I’m so sorry… I… I’ll escort him outside right now but please, I’m begging you… don’t tell anyone that you saw him here.” the vampire seemed panicked and his eyes were looking at Wooseok with a pleading expression.

The werewolf felt a little sad seeing Yein like that. It made him feel like his vampire friend didn’t trust him enough. But… he couldn’t hold it against him. The rivalry between vampires and werewolves had existed long before they were born.

He was about to answer Yein but the voice from before beat him to it.

“If anyone’s at fault, that’s me. I just needed a book that’s stored here and came in even though he told me not to. Please, don’t get Yein in trouble.”

After that, he proceeded to make a 90 degree bow. 

It was safe to say that Wooseok was utterly confused but still, he found the tall boy’s gesture kind of endearing. It seemed like this man was really worried about his smaller friend. At least, they both had that in common.

However, Wooseok felt kind of uncomfortable having a vampire bowing to him so he waved his hands frantically while repeating that it was okay, that he wasn’t actually planning on saying anything.

“You were right about him.” Said the stranger to Yein and then, flashed Wooseok a charming smile. And even if the werewolf could see his fangs, he felt a little blush covering his cheeks. Don’t entertain stupid ideas, Wooseok.

Maybe it was because he was still half asleep, maybe the handsome stranger’s smile had bewitched him or maybe he was just an idiot but his mouth started moving on his own.

“Umm… Maybe I could help? What book do you need? You can borrow it using my name and return it later maybe…”

Yes, an extremely stupid idea. He wasn’t aware of all the situations this decision would unchain at the time. What would have happened if he just had let them go?

Meanwhile, both vampires were looking at him with surprised expressions on their faces. Yein surely didn’t expect Wooseok to help his tall friend and the latter seemed baffled as well.

The short vampire was about to protest. He didn’t want Wooseok to get in trouble if this became known. But the stranger spoke first.

“You would really do that…?”

Wooseok just nodded, not trusting his mouth anymore.

“Wooseok, you are my savior.” He was never going to admit that his heart did a thing when he heard his name being uttered by the tall man. Was this the famous ‘vampire charm’ he had heard so much about? Boy, was it working.

“Are you sure, Wooseok? I don’t want to get you in trouble.” Yein muttered, he seemed to be the only one concerned.

“Don’t worry… As long as your friend…” he gestured towards the tall male, he noticed that he still didn’t know his name so Wooseok took the opportunity.

“Jinhyuk.” Answered the man with another dashing smile. Wooseok had the feeling he would remember that name for a long time.

“Right… As long as Jinhyuk returns it on time, I don’t see any problem.” 

Yein looked kind of unconvinced but if Wooseok had said it was alright, he would have to comply. He also wanted to help Jinhyuk after all, he just hoped everything went down smoothly and no one got into trouble.

“Okay, I’ll look for the book you need. I already know where it is.” Said their common friend and set off to look for it. Yein surely took the job seriously and had been doing an amazing job at organizing the titles and keeping track of the location of certain books.

Jinhyuk and Wooseok were left alone near the counter and they both couldn’t bear the heavy silence that surrounded them. Moreover, Wooseok’s inner wolf was on edge, ready to bite without a warning, he really didn’t like having a vampire around and Wooseok was utterly frustrated with the fact that he had to keep the animal inside of him tamed.

“So…”

“So…”

They had spoken at the same time.

Jinhyuk let out a chuckle and gestured towards Wooseok. “You first…”

Wooseok hadn’t noticed but he was blushing a little. Jinhyuk found it adorable. Wooseok’s inner wolf found it appalling.

“Ummm… What book are you looking for? Is it that important that you have to enter the wolves’ den?” He hadn’t meant to come off as rude but Wooseok thought it kind of sounded like it. He winced a little at his own words but his companion seemed unaffected.

“It’s called ‘Picture Perfect’. The author is… a wolf and he also graduated from this university. I heard the copy here has some special notes that’s why I preferred borrowing it from here.”

Wooseok hummed. It made sense then why he was so keen on taking the book from this exact library. He was about to ask another question so as not to fall into an uncomfortable silence again but Jinhyuk beat him to it and kept talking.

“I’m actually trying to gain the approval of a very important photographer. I asked him to be my mentor but… he refused. But he told me he would think about if I showed him a very good portrait picture. The problem is... It’s hard to practice when neither I nor my friends are able to appear in pictures.” he let out a sigh but laughed afterward, cursing his own luck. He loved photography. He loved being able to capture a whole moment, a whole memory, and make it everlasting. Too bad he couldn’t take part in those memories.

“So… how will you do the assignment he gave you then?” Jinhyuk stayed silent. He was planning on asking a human classmate but now that he looked at Wooseok, he was eager to photograph him. Too bad he hadn’t brought his camera. He cursed his luck.

The vampire scratched his nape. “I’ll manage somehow…” but Wooseok didn’t miss the glance the other threw in his direction. 

Wooseok was trying to control the wolf inside of him by ignoring Jinhyuk’s smell and thinking of the vampire as an alpha. Maybe that wasn’t a very good idea now… If an alpha had given him that look, he would have crumbled in submission already.

Before anyone could say anything else, Yein reappeared with the book in question.

“Here it is, special notes and everything.” He sat behind the counter and filled a form on the computer. “I’ll put it on Wooseok’s name. You have one week to return it, Jinhyuk, don’t forget.”

“Yes, sir!” said the tall vampire imitating a soldier. A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He forced his eyes away from the other boy afraid to become hypnotized by that damn vampire charm. He wasn’t aware of it working on wolves as well.

In turn, he looked at the clock and was incredibly appalled by the hour, it was late. He quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the screen. He had put his phone on silent mode because of the library rules so he didn’t notice the ten missed calls of his roommate.

“Oh my god, it’s super late…I have to go, sorry!” He went back to the table where he had fallen asleep and fetched his backpack, then, he swiftly ran towards the exit but before going out, he took a final look at the two boys in the library.

“Yein, I’ll see you in class.” The little boy nodded and waved his hand.

But Wooseok didn’t want to go without saying goodbye to his new… acquaintance? 

“Goodbye Jinhyuk… It was nice meeting you.” He was genuine about it. Never in his life had he imagined he would be on friendly terms with not only one but two vampires. “Good luck with your project!” He showed the tall man a bright smile and finally went out, making a run towards the dorm. He had missed curfew already so he was expecting a scolding. He silently wished he could see Jinhyuk again sometime and he knew how wrong that thought was.

Back in the library, another person was petrified, as if he had been struck by lightning. He looked towards the exit with a longing expression.

“So… Wooseok, huh?” an enigmatic smile crept up his face.

“Don’t even THINK about it,” answered Yein.

Still, Jinhyuk wasn’t sure he could forget the encounter that easily. The book on his hand suddenly felt heavy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Four days later, Wooseok was sitting on the couch with Yohan watching TV when he got a call from an unknown number.

He was skeptical to answer it. He didn’t go around giving his number to anyone and he even made his friends swear they wouldn’t give his number to anyone, no matter how many times they asked.

He decided to answer it after Yohan gave him a look, annoyed that he was being interrupted from watching his drama. 

“Hello…?” he started making his way towards his room so as not to bother his roommate but he stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the oh too familiar voice on the other side of the line.

“O-oh, hi… Is this Kim Wooseok?” Jinhyuk sounded oddly fidgety, almost as if he wasn’t expecting the werewolf to pick up.

He was too surprised to react so his wolf took control for a second and snarled at the phone.

Wooseok started to get fidgety as well. He hurried to his room but not before making sure Yohan was busy with his drama and hadn’t heard him growl. He almost felt like a criminal, like he was doing something wrong, something he wasn’t supposed to do.

“Ummm… Am I bothering you? I’m sorry, I’ll hang u-” Jinhyuk sounded kind of hurt. He surely wasn’t expecting a snarl.

“No, no! It’s okay… I was just… surprised.” Wooseok was utterly embarrassed but he tried to brush it off. “Can I help you…?” He couldn’t think of a reason why the vampire would call him apart from the book he had borrowed under his name. Had he lost it or damaged it? He surely hoped not or he would be in trouble.

Luckily it wasn’t any of that. “Actually… Yein gave me your number because he’ll probably be absent for a few days.”

“Is he okay?” Wooseok was worried about his friend. Could vampires get sick?

“Yeah, he’s just fatigued… We don’t really need to sleep but if we spend too much time under the sun or without being fed, we get weak really easily. He just needs a few days of “sleep” and he’ll be fine.”

Wooseok realized there were so many things about vampires he wasn’t aware of. Not that he ever had the need to but maybe he should have been more considerate of Yein and do some research. After all, Yein always gave him his notes whenever Wooseok had to be absent because of his heats.

“Does he need me to pass him my notes? I can drop by wherever he lives… Do you know his address?”

“I don’t think that’s a very wise idea, Wooseok.” The werewolf was confused. “Yein doesn’t exactly live near campus... “ Oh… now he got it. His small friend probably lived in an area dominated by vampires. It would be a risk to go over there alone with no knowledge of what he could find in that neighborhood.

“But don’t worry, I have an idea.” said the vampire. Wooseok could practically hear the smile on his voice. “Take Yein’s shift in the library tomorrow. I can drop by. You give me the notes, I give the book I borrowed back and no one has to put himself in danger.”

The omega found many flaws in that statement. Many people would consider a situation where a vampire and a werewolf were alone dangerous. But Wooseok had come to the conclusion that Jinhyuk was weird.

“There’s just one tiny problem…” mentioned Wooseok. On the other line, Jinhyuk’s smile was already faltering. “I don’t know how to do any library work.”

“No need to worry about that. Yein told me nobody -other than you- comes to the library at that time. Wolf students don’t want to be welcomed into the library by a vampire, even if he’s as nice as our friend.”

Wooseok nodded. He hated that it made sense. The boy decided to accept and promised to meet Jinhyuk the next night at the library.

“Okay, see you tomorrow then! Bye!” the vampire sounded oddly excited. But the truth is the omega also felt a little fidgety.

“See you.” After hanging up, he threw his phone to his side and lied on his bed. He couldn’t understand why his cheeks felt warm at the prospect of seeing the handsome vampire again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Wooseok did as he was told. He asked to cover for Yein on his shift. The librarian had watched him with a weird expression but didn’t ask any questions and gave him the keys as well as a brief explanation of his duties. 

It was 9 p.m. already, he was on the library counter, playing with his phone while he waited for Jinhyuk to arrive. He wondered if vampires could really transform into bats. Would he be coming in from the window? Wooseok moved towards the closest one and took a look outside. It was hard to see because of the dark but he could definitely sense a very particular odor. He squinted his eyes a little, just in case.

“You know we don’t really turn into bats, right?”. A voice whispered from behind him.

He was so startled that he let out a little squeal and jumped in his place. He turned around, ready to give the owner of the voice a piece of his mind. Right behind him stood Lee Jinhyuk, in all his glory. He looked at the taller male with an annoyed expression.

“I could have died of a heart attack. Or was this your plan from the start? To secretly get me alone and fulfill your wolf killing agenda?”

Jinhyuk’s mouth morphed into a grin. “Now that you know my secret I can’t let you out of here alive.”

They both laughed. It was weird, being able to make jokes between them. They barely knew each other but there was some kind of mutual understanding, like a secret game being played by both of them.

The omega went back to the counter to fetch the folder with his notes and gave it to the taller male.

“Do you know how many days will he be absent?”

“He’ll be asleep for at least three days. So I guess he’ll be back by Monday.”

Wooseok hummed. “Luckily today is Friday so he’ll have the whole weekend to… sleep, I guess.”

The vampire didn’t answer, instead, he pulled a book out of his backpack and placed it on the counter. 

“As promised…I have brought the book back.”

“Oh! Could you finish your project?”

Jinhyuk sighed and looked away. “I haven't even started actually… I’m stuck...”

It seemed like the vampire wanted to say something else so Wooseok waited. Meanwhile, he took the book and placed it in a drawer. Surely Yein would know where to put it or how to manage the return. He wasn’t really listening when the librarian had explained these things.

Jinhyuk continued after a while. He seemed determined.

“Remember I told you neither I nor my friends appeared in photographs? Yeah… That’s one setback. I was planning to ask some human neighbors but… I don’t know, I’m not convinced by their features…”

Wooseok had another crazy idea on his head. But he knew better now than to just say it out loud this time. The wise part of his brain told him not to engage with vampires anymore, especially not with this one, with his dangerous smile that seemed to pull Wooseok in every time. He was a VAMPIRE, for god’s sake. 

However, Jinhyuk seemed to have the same stupid mind as him. He looked into the omega’s eyes, once again pulling him into a trance.

Another thing Wooseok had heard about vampires was that they had some kind of special charm that they used to coerce people into doing whatever they wanted. Yes, Wooseok blamed that damn charm (if it was even real).

“Okay… I don’t have a wolf killing agenda as you said before… But I do have a secret agenda. The real reason why I set up this meeting was to ask you if you would help me with the project.”

It was exactly as Wooseok had thought. What was he supposed to do? He was still perplexed.

Jinhyuk continued. “Look… While working with photography I have seen many faces, many people, many features but none like yours. You’re exactly what I’m looking for.”

The vampire didn’t seem to notice the effect those words were having on the omega. He prayed the tall man would stop talking or else he would die of embarrassment. He could practically feel his pheromones going out of control and the smell didn’t go unnoticed by Jinhyuk who scrunched his nose mid-sentence.

“It smells like… gasoline…”

Well… That was a first. His friends have told Wooseok that his scent reminded them of lavender and freshly brewed tea.

He shifted uncomfortably. The omega was not used to hear that his scent was anything but pleasant. He felt ashamed.

Jinhyuk seemed to notice the other’s discomfort and quickly went back to the original subject. He didn’t know what he had done wrong but it certainly had to do with the poor knowledge he had of wolves.

“Anyways… the truth is… your face just screams to be photographed” Said the vampire with a decisive tone. “Of course I don’t expect you to do it for free. I will pay you!” 

Wooseok didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t a model and didn’t have the slightest idea of how to act like one. He was aware of his good looks but it still felt weird to hear a vampire complimenting his face.

“I… I don’t know.” Jinhyuk quickly interrupted before he could go on.

“You won’t have to do anything. I’ll take care of everything. We can even do it here, we don’t even have to go to the studio. I’ll come here at night like these last two days. I promise I won’t take much of your time.” The vampire rubbed his hands together in a pleading expression. He seemed rather desperate. Had Wooseok’s face impressed him that much? The omega felt kind of proud.

Still, he wasn’t sure. He was once sure about not wanting to mingle with vampires. Yein had been the only exception and he never thought he would cross paths with another one. Wooseok was worried… He didn’t want to become too attached. The omega had already been lying to his friends about Yein. He felt bad for lying and hiding his friendship with the vampire. Would he be able to keep more secrets?

Jinhyuk seemed to sense the indecisiveness of the werewolf. But far from backing up, he decided to take one last chance in order to convince Wooseok.

“Truth is… You are really pretty, but you must already know that, right?” Jinhyuk smiled towards Wooseok who, in turn, stopped his deep thinking and looked at the vampire like a deer caught in the headlights, a subtle blush already visible on his cheeks. “Your eyes are beautiful, your cheekbones well pronounced, your nose is small and your…” Jinhyuk’s sight lingered a little lower. This was becoming dangerous. The vampire cleared his throat and looked away shyly. “your… your jaw is nice.”

_Real smooth._ Thought Jinhyuk. 

“But still, your expressions are what intrigue me the most. Don’t take this the wrong way but do you know that despite having a pretty face you make a lot of angry or judging expressions? That contrast is what I want to capture the most.” The vampire released a little laugh he had been holding.

“I don’t know if I should feel honored or annoyed.” The blush was still present on his face but he was trying to hide it by feigning annoyance.

“H-hey! I meant that as a good thing!”

“You run your mouth too much and this is only our second meeting. It doesn’t help your case much.”

“I’ll shut up then. You won’t hear a thing.” He made a zip motion with his hand on his mouth.

Wooseok let out a sigh but then smiled. “I’ve only known you for two days but I already feel that’s something kind of impossible… but I guess I’ll have to get used to it.”

“Does that mean…?” Jinhyuk’s eyes became bigger and a spark of hope lighted them up.

Wooseok just nodded and asked. “When do we start?”

He was probably going to regret this later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After that day, Jinhyuk started texting Wooseok often. The omega thought he would receive some kind of direction on what to do, what kind of makeup to wear, if he should use some kind of accessory but Jinhyuk’s texts were mainly the vampire asking about his day, telling the omega stories about his course, about Yein, about vampires. 

Wooseok learned a lot and in turn, exchanged information about werewolves with Jinhyuk. Of course he left things like heats and ruts out because he didn’t want to engage in an awkward conversation. He talked about alphas, betas and omegas, about scents and about instincts. Jinhyuk texted him random vampire facts. Wooseok learned that vampires didn’t turn into bats, that their ‘charm’ only worked with humans -Wooseok could swear this was not true-, that they didn’t die when exposed to the sun -they could get easily tired if they were exposed to it too much though, that’s why most of them went out at night-, he learned about their diet, about the blood banks. 

Sometimes the topic centered more on each of them rather than their species. What Wooseok liked to eat, Jinhyuk’s favorite season, their ambitions and dreams. Some conversations were goofy and random while some others were serious and deep. And maybe there was a little flirting here and there.

They were both aware of the dangerous game they were playing. But far from pulling out, their main concern was who was going to lose first because they knew no winner would come out of that game.

Wooseok kept going to the library to see Yein once he had come back. The only difference was he now expected to see someone else. Yein had found him glancing around more than once and the short vampire could only sigh at that.

“He’s probably going to text you if he’s coming.”

Wooseok startled a little at this and tried to play it cool. “I… I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“So you suddenly decided to wear makeup today just because…” Yein squinted his eyes at the omega in front of him. Wooseok was sweating nervously trying to come up with a good excuse.

“You should know that Jinhyuk is not very good at keeping secrets.” The vampire sighed and kept placing the books on their correct shelf. Wooseok wanted the earth to swallow him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

One week later, Jinhyuk told him he would go to the library to start with the project. 

Wooseok felt excited. That was bad.

Before heading to the library that day, he put on the make up he had been practicing the last days. He had decided to go for a natural look, nothing too in-your-face but not bare-faced either.

He went out of the bathroom and started gathering his notes to make his way to the library. Yohan was playing a game on his phone but he stopped once he looked at Wooseok.

“Where are you going?”

“Library,” answered Wooseok in a neutral tone.

“Why are you wearing makeup?”

“Can’t someone look good on his way to the library?” Could Yohan just let him GO? One of his friend’s worst traits was his neverending curiosity.

“You look good even without it. There’s something else. Spill.”

“Th-there’s nothing to ‘spill’” Damn, why did he have to stutter?

“You stuttered.” Damn Yohan and his incredible observation skills. “Let your good friend Yohan guess… The only plausible explanation is that you want to impress someone. Maybe…. a nice alpha?” The beta wiggled his eyebrows.

“Goodbye!” Wooseok simply closed the door ignoring his friend’s question.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Wooseok arrived at the library, Jinhyuk was already there, talking with Yein.

It seemed like he didn’t need to make his presence known since both vampires turned around when he entered the place.

“Here comes our main star,” said Yein while looking at him with a knowing glance.

Jinhyuk didn’t say anything at first, he just stared at the omega from head to toe. Wooseok felt weird again.

Yein came to the rescue and elbowed the taller male, effectively taking him out of his stupor.

“Oh, sorry… I was thinking about which light would accentuate your features.”

Wooseok heard a faint ‘yeah, right’ coming from Yein but he pretended not to.

“By the way… You look really pretty.”

Ah, there it was again. The flirting. 

It was one thing to do it by text when they couldn’t see each other but now that they were face to face again it was different, more real.

“But…next time I would prefer if you didn’t wear any makeup. Your bare face is handsome enough and I’m afraid I will want to keep the picture to myself if you come out too pretty.”

Wooseok was no stranger to flattery. Many alphas had tried to claim him as theirs but no one had ever piqued his interest before. What was so different about Jinhyuk? Maybe the fact that he didn’t have the need to use his status as an alpha to get something from him? 

  
  


“Lee Jinhyuk… are you flirting with me?”

Far from being taken aback, Jinhyuk pushed forward.

“It depends… Is it working?”

A loud grunt interrupted them. “Yeah, no… I don’t want to be part of this conversation.”

Yein was not planning on being the third wheel so he did what any sensible person would have done. Yeet the f away from there.

He took the library keys and placed them on Wooseok’s hand and left with a simple ‘just close when you are finished.’ He wasn’t so sure about leaving those two alone but that didn’t mean he wanted to be there.

Once Yein left, Wooseok and Jinhyuk resumed their activities. They looked for a well-lit place and started working. The omega discovered that he wasn’t shy at all in front of a camera. He tried different poses and facial expressions. Jinhyuk barely gave him any directions. He was busy making some magic with his camera.

It took them approximately an hour and a half to finish and even then, Jinhyuk wasn’t 100% satisfied with the result.

“I knew I said we could do it here but… maybe we will need to go to the studio.”

“Wolf killing agenda being obvious once again.” was Wooseok’s response. Jinhyuk just laughed and shook his head.

“I’ll pay you double.” 

“Double pay AND pork feet”

“Deal.” Jinhyuk extended his hand and Wooseok shook it, satisfied.

And that was the beginning of their unofficial dates.

The vampire introduced the studio to the omega. It was pretty far from the dorm but Jinhyuk had always taken him there in his car. They met at a park a few blocks away from campus so that the vampire could pick Wooseok up without them receiving weird stares.

They started to spend more time together. After the studio session, Jinhyuk would order food and they would goof around while eating and chatting. They sometimes went out at night and took a stroll in the park, away from prying eyes.

They kept texting often and Jinhyuk still went to the library even if he had nothing to do there. They talked, took some pictures, studied, read books. Yein sometimes joined them but he was still rather uncomfortable.

The short vampire had even talked privately with Wooseok about the weird thing he and Jinhyuk had going on.

“He looks like a goof but Jinhyuk is really a great guy.” his eyes were full of determination. “I don’t know what’s going on between you but... I can tell that he’s serious… even if he doesn’t show it.” Wooseok had never seen Yein so serious before. He didn’t say anything and let the other male finish. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… please don’t hurt him. I don’t want to be the awkward friend in common.” he released a little laugh after that statement but the omega could sense he was trying to lighten up the mood. 

He understood Yein worries completely but the truth was that he didn’t know how to respond. Wooseok wasn’t really sure of what was that thing between him and Jinhyuk. He enjoyed his company, he missed the taller male whenever they hadn’t seen each other for a long time, he didn’t want to say goodbye when they had to part and sometimes he had a painful eagerness to take his hand. Oh for god’s sake… Was he too worried being dumb that he hadn’t realized he liked Jinhyuk?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wooseok’s new discovery kept him distracted during class.

His friends had begun to notice his strange behavior and teased him frequently. They had started making bets on what kind of person Wooseok was dating cause that was something they all agreed on - Wooseok was dating. 

But was he? Could those outings really be considered dates? One thing was for sure. He wanted them to be dates.

He wasn’t sure how to deal with his feelings for the vampire. He liked a vampire. The natural enemy of his species. Even if Jinhyuk liked him back, having a relationship with him would be unthinkable. Was that even possible? How would they manage? They would have to keep it hidden, they would have to sacrifice many things and get used to the other species' dynamics. Could Jinhyuk satisfy him during his heats? The mere thought made his cheeks redden. Was it too soon to think about all that stuff? He was lost. He didn’t know what to do. Should he just keep those feelings hidden? But Yein had mentioned something along the lines that Jinhyuk was serious about him. Was he really? Had they talked privately? Was the vampire also thinking of hiding his feelings? If so… what would become of them? Were they going to stop seeing each other? 

He didn’t want that but, in all honesty… he wasn’t even sure of what he wanted.

Yohan's excited voice made him come back to reality for a second. 

“It’s the first snow!” The beta’s eyes were twinkling while watching through the window. Soon, campus would be full of people running around, playing snowball fights, making snow angels… But Wooseok wasn’t nearly as excited. Currently, he had too many things to ponder.

“Wouldn’t it be romantic to see the first snow with your significant other?” he showed his omega friend a teasing smile but after being met with a blank stare, he dropped it.

“Why don’t you invite Junho to see it with you?” Now it was Wooseok’s turn to tease the younger. His attempts were met with success when Yohan’s cheeks were tinted with red. Junho was one of the human exchange students. The beta had not shut up about him since the moment he had laid eyes on him. Yohan had sometimes invited him to have lunch with them but Junho had always been very quiet and stoic. Wooseok always wondered how he could become friends with someone as loud as Yohan but opposites attracted each other, he supposed.

Like a vampire and a wolf…

He sighed and looked out of the window. Yohan was already putting his coat on while apparently messaging Junho.

“You should spend the first snow with someone special! Why don’t you call your alpha?” He wiggled his eyebrows and stormed out of the room before Wooseok could throw him a cushion.

He knew that it was a bad idea to go through with Yohan’s suggestion, he pondered about it while his hand unconsciously reached for the phone. He stopped right before grabbing it. _This is a terrible idea._ He knew that he wouldn’t be hesitating so much in other circumstances but now that he had finally accepted his feelings, everything felt different. 

While he was lost in his thoughts, his phone started ringing. When he glanced at the screen and saw the contact name he almost fell off the chair. None other than Lee Jinhyuk was calling him. He took a deep breath and took the call with trembling hands. A very well known voice made its way through the speakers.

“Hey, Wooseok… You’re at the dorm, right? Let’s go out and enjoy the first snow!” Jinhyuk sounded ecstatic. Suddenly Yohan’s words echoed inside the omega’s head: ‘ _You should spend the first snow with someone special’_.

He had the feeling his decision would be decisive. There would be a before and after this night. But was he ready? Should he just show himself bare and say his feelings out loud? He weighed his options but they all seemed like bad ideas. Confessing, not confessing, hiding, ghosting… What was he supposed to do?

As if sensing his uneasiness, Jinhyuk decided to be bolder. It seemed the vampire was already determined. “There’s no one else I’d rather spend this day with…”

Wooseok’s heart was racing. This was the signal he had been waiting for. His head went blank but he had already decided to follow his heart rather than his head.

“I would love to.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They met at the park that was already well known by both of them. There were some other people out but everyone seemed to be minding their own business.

The vampire and the wolf were walking side by side in comfortable silence. They stopped once in a while so that Jinhyuk could take some pictures of the white scenery. The snow had piled up and was already covering much of the park surface. 

Little snowflakes fell on Wooseok’s face so he scrunched his nose, trying to get rid of them. The handsome vampire didn’t lose the opportunity to snap a shot at the adorable omega.

“I already showed the portrait to my teacher,” mentioned Jinhyuk after taking another picture of him.

“Oh! What did he say?” Wooseok looked at the vampire expectantly. Jinhyuk was very serious about making that person his mentor. He prayed that the man had said yes to his friend’s request.

Jinhyuk just let out a laugh and flickered Wooseok’s forehead. “Didn’t you realize I said ‘my teacher’?” The omega touched his forehead with an annoyed expression that rapidly softened when he realized the meaning of those words. Jinhyuk was now the mentee of a very well known photographer.

“Oh my god! Congratulations! You worked so hard for this… I’m so happy for you.” In his excitement and without even noticing, he took the vampire’s hands. Jinhyuk looked at their hands and sighed.

“You are really bad at realizing things, huh?” Jinhyuk chuckled but his eyes seemed lost; as if his words held a deeper meaning. 

“Maybe I’m just scared of finding out.” He hadn’t let go of the vampire's hands. They were cold, as cold as the snow surrounding them. Then why did Wooseok feel warm inside?

Jinhyuk released one of his hands from the wolf’s hold and placed it on his cheek. Wooseok shivered. He didn’t know if it was because of the coldness of a vampire’s hand or the touch of his special someone. “I should be more straightforward then.” Again, Wooseok could practically feel his pheromones going out of control. His omega was accepting, he wanted to be liked by the person in front of him.

Last time this had happened, Jinhyuk had mentioned that from his perspective, he smelled like gasoline. If Wooseok was like gasoline, then Jinhyuk was the fire. They were bound to explode if they met. Was he prepared to deal with the consequences?

“I like you, Wooseok.”

_Fuck it._ He already felt his heart exploding.

“I know this is wrong… that I shouldn’t have these kinds of feelings for a wolf. I know it will be difficult but believe me, I’ve tried forgetting about you but I just can’t. You’re all I can think about, day and night.” The vampire caressed Wooseok’s cheek and looked at him intensely. The omega could sense his honesty. 

“Why do you have to be a vampire?” was the first answer that came out of the smaller male’s mouth. He also used his free hand to playfully hit Jinhyuk on the chest.

The vampire laughed and ruffled Wooseok’s hair. “Hey! I poured my heart out for you and I get hit on the chest? I was kind of expecting a kiss…” Jinhyuk even had the nerve to wink.

Wooseok took that opportunity to plant a quick peck on the tall man’s cheek. He then looked at the vampire’s surprised face and smiled. “I like you too.”

Jinhyuk couldn’t contain his happiness and embraced the smaller male. Wooseok quickly returned it and nuzzled his head on the vampire’s chest. They stood there in silence for some time. Just drowning in each other. Fire and gasoline finally meeting. 

After a few minutes, Wooseok spoke once again.

“I’m scared…” Jinyuk held him tighter.

“Me too…” He took the omega by the shoulders and made them face each other. “But I’m willing to try… for you.”

“Lee Jinhyuk… are you flirting with me?” Wooseok echoed the conversation they had had a few days ago in the library. He looked at Jinhyuk daringly and took a step forward.

“It depends… Is it working?” Jinhyuk lowered his hands on the smaller male’s frame until he was circling his waist. He moved his face forward, their noses almost touching.

“It is…” Wooseok’s eyes fell on the other’s lips and lingered there for a while. Jinhyuk was losing his mind. The vampire moved his face even closer. Their breaths mingling and their mouths just centimeters apart.

“Can I…?”

“Yes, please.” sighed Wooseok.

Their lips finally touched. Jinhyuk’s lips were cold, Wooseok noticed, but this time he didn’t shiver because the warmness he felt inside of him, for once, was stronger. The kiss was slow and sweet. Their mouths worked perfectly together. Maybe sometimes the fangs got in the way but Wooseok guessed he would have to get used to little things like that. It would be difficult but if these feelings were real, then it would all be worth it.

They never forgot that winter day. Winter was now Wooseok’s favorite season… because it reminded him of Jinhyuk. 

____________

They were currently sprawled on Jinhyuk’s couch, watching a dumb movie about a vampire and a werewolf falling for a human girl. They laughed their asses off each time they watched it. 

“I don’t know what’s worse… thinking of you with an alpha or with a human.” Jinhyuk shivered just at the thought and Wooseok let out a loud laugh. 

“No, thanks. I already have enough headaches with a vampire as a boyfriend.”

“Hey!” Jinhyuk started tickling Wooseok while the other asked for mercy. The movie was quickly discarded and only their laughter resounded inside the apartment.

“Okay, okay… I give up…” said the omega in between sobs and laughter. They both stopped and decided to cuddle. 

Jinhyuk took a look at the window to know the time of the day. The sun was shining brightly outside. Winter was still two months away, they would soon celebrate their first year as a couple. The vampire hoped that by then, Wooseok’s friends would be prepared to learn the truth.

“So… about my monthiversary gift…” mentioned Jinhyuk with a sly smile. “Can I open the socks drawer and take it out already?”

Wooseok hit him on the arm with a flustered expression. “How did you know it was there?” 

“Wooseokie, you’re too predictable.” The omega slapped his boyfriend's leg this time.

“You’re not allowed to open it until I’m gone… I’m too embarrassed.” Wooseok ears were red and Jinhyuk found it adorable. He wanted to keep seeing the smaller male’s expressions for a long time. They still had a lot of challenges to face but each month they spent together made him a little bit more hopeful. Maybe interspecies marriage would be legalized a few years from now? Jinhyuk smiled at the idea. He wouldn’t mind spending a lifetime with Wooseok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always you can refer to my twitter to ask anything you want or to leave complaints (?~ @wblobfishbells


	3. They say that we're out of control (and some say we're sinners)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~ another chapter fresh out of the oven~  
> I recently decided that this story would have five chapters in total so the next two will be the last ones!   
> I plan on updating my other weishin work after this chapter so you'll have to be a little more patient with me! I'll do my best!   
> Thank you for the support ♥  
> PS: this chapter title is inspired by Fire on Fire by Sam Smith. I think it fits Jinhyuk and Wooseok's story a lot

It was Monday once again and the happy couple had to bid their goodbyes for the time being. Jinhyuk had scolded Wooseok some time ago for skipping classes to stay with him. Don't get him wrong, he loved the attention but he didn't want Wooseok's scores and academic achievements to be hindered because of him. And they would have plenty of time to be together in the future anyway.

  
  


Jinhyuk was eager to move with Wooseok but he had decided to wait for the werewolf to graduate. He also didn't want to rush their relationship -even though he was pretty sure Wooseok was THE one- and overall he didn't want to pressure the omega. 

  
  


Wooseok hadn't even told his friends about their relationship yet… and he couldn't blame him. Their situation was pretty delicate and almost unheard of. They knew that not everyone was going to agree at once. But he believed they should at least try. He didn't care if no one accepted them, he would fight for Wooseok no matter what.

  
  


He repeated that phrase like a mantra right when he was about to enter his 'mother's' office.

  
  


Yoo Inna was not his real mother, but she took up that role since the moment she converted him thirty-eight years ago.

  
  


Turning someone into a vampire was not as simple as anyone would think. Written consent had to be signed by the two people involved and the human had to be absolutely sure about his or her decision. Additionally, it was strictly forbidden to turn anyone below twenty years old into a vampire. 

  
  


Jinhyuk was twenty-four when he was converted. As a human, he suffered from a heart condition that would not let him live past his thirties, or at least that was what the doctors had said. 

  
  


He met Inna by chance and she suggested he turned into a vampire.

  
  


Jinhyuk didn't think twice about it. He never had time to ponder about the disadvantages of eternal life when he had been given a time limit since the moment he was born.

  
  


It was hard at first, but Inna guided him through it with the patience and warmth of a real mother. He also had the help of his brother, Sooil, and his sister Nayoung, who Inna had adopted before him. He was quite content with his new family.

  
  


However, tragedy struck the family when Sooil decided to end his life for no apparent reason. 

  
  


The government had established special centers where vampires could finally rest in peace once they decided it was time.

Nayoung thought it was quite logical. Sooil had lived for a long time already and maybe he was fed up with immortality but Jinhyuk always thought there was something fishy about it. He was sure his older brother would have at least notified them beforehand.

  
  


And apart from that, days before the tragedy, Sooil had seemed drained, even paler than usual. Jinhyuk even wondered if vampires could get sick cause there was no other word to describe his brother at the time. He was pretty sure that Sooil hadn't drunk blood for several days.

  
  


He also had the suspicion that his mother knew more than she let out but he could never bring himself to ask her because she had been the most devastated after Sooil's death.

  
  


But Inna was exceptionally strong. After a few years, she pulled through and used this newfound strength to consolidate her digital image business. Her company grew until it was one of the main camera and printer producers in the country. She also adopted another son, Kookheon, who felt more like an older brother for Jinhyuk even though he had converted more recently. Must have been cause Jinyuk was stuck at his twenty-four while Kookheon was turned at twenty-six.

  
  


In any case, the family pulled through and everything seemed to be alright at that moment. However, Jinhyuk always felt that the mystery surrounding Sooil was still hanging heavy in the air but her mother refused to talk about it and the vampire wasn't planning to make her relieve the pain. When the time was right, he would ask.

  
  


But right now, it was time for another announcement and he was equally nervous. 

  
  


Inna had never displayed any kind of distaste for werewolves but she hadn't spoken nicely about them either. She mainly ignored them. Many of the shareholders of her company werewolves and whenever she had board meetings, she only complained about their smell but, in general, she tried not to mingle too much with them. 

  
  


That's why Jinhyuk was confused. He had no idea the kind of reaction he would get after announcing his relationship with Wooseok.

  
  


The young vampire took a deep breath before knocking on the door. A few seconds that felt like hours passed until he heard the faint "come in" that came from inside.

  
  


_ 'Here goes nothing.' _

  
  


Inna looked pleasantly surprised to see her son in her office and welcomed him with a candid smile.

  
  


"Oh, Jinhyuk! I was about to call for you. You must have read my mind." She gestured to the chair in front of her desk. "Please, take a seat. There's something I would like to tell you." 

  
  


His mother seemed to be in a good mood so Jinhyuk decided to take it as a good sign.

  
  


"What a coincidence… cause I also wanted to talk about something with you." He tried not to sound too nervous but his acting wasn't convincing.

  
  


Inna let out a little chuckle after hearing him. "You sound like I'm going to scold you." She reached out her hand to touch Jinhyuk's over her desk. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right? There shouldn't be secrets between us." Jinhyuk was used to hearing that line by now. His mother started using it after Sooil had done what he had done without telling anyone.

  
  


Jinhyuk looked at her mother's hand and then at her. This woman had given him a family, a house of his own, she had let him pursue his chosen career without any objections, she had instructed him in anything he needed to know about his new life, she had always been patient and kind with him. He could tell her… She would understand.

  
  


Would she? Why was he doubting?

  
  


"Hey, don't worry so much. I'll tell you my news first and see if you let loose a little." She suddenly stood up and made a motion with her fingers so that Jinhyuk would follow her.

  
  


Jinhyuk was a little startled but he exited the office behind her.

  
  


"Do you remember the project Nayoung, you and I have been working on?"

  
  


How could he forget? A camera that could capture a vampire picture. They had been working on it for years. He hadn't been able to help that much during the last few months because of all of his photography projects -and Wooseok-.

  
  


Jinhyuk nodded but also looked puzzled. He followed Inna into an elevator and waited for her to continue while she pressed the number of the floor they were heading to.

  
  


"Well… I'm pleased to announce that we are launching it next month"

  
  


"What? Is it finished?"

  
  


Inna smiled with a proud expression and nodded. "We tested the last prototype a week ago and it worked!" 

  
  


This was a breakthrough. No other company had ever achieved that and Jinhyuk was sure it would bring amazing results to his mother company. However, he felt bad for not helping during the last stages of the project.

  
  


"That's amazing, mother. I'm sure it's going to be a hit."

  
  


"I wouldn't have been able to do it without your help. And here's when I drop the other news." 

  
  


The elevator door opened and he recognized the floor immediately. It was the studio.

  
  


Inna continued while they entered the place "Since this is a family project… I want you and your brothers to model for the product. I think it's a good opportunity to present my gorgeous sons and daughter to the public."

  
  


He knew there had to be a catch.

  
  


The young vampire looked at her motherly figure with a defeated expression. “You know I don’t like the spotlight.” He sighed. “That’s why I’m a photographer. I’d rather stay behind the scenes.”

  
  


He knew this was a lost cause though.

  
  


“Please, Jinhyuk… I always let you do whatever you want. Can’t you do this tiny thing for me? Just this once.”

  
  


How old was this woman again? 

  
  


Jinhyuk didn’t want to comply but he needed her to be in a good mood for the news he had to give her after all this.

  
  


“Okay…but I’m kind of busy with a project now so let me know when the session will be.”

  
  


Inna didn’t seem to like that answer very much but she would have to come to terms with the fact that Jinhyuk was not a little child and he couldn’t come running whenever she called.

  
  


“Another project? Not sure I like your “mentor” that much. He’s always keeping you busy.”

  
  


The vampire laughed. He knew of someone who took up more time from him than his mentor.

  
  


“I joined a very important photography contest. President Lee is the judge so this could really help my career.”

  
  


At the mention of Lee Dongwook, his mother’s jaw tensed. It was not the first time it happened and Jinhyuk always wondered about the reason. However, just like with Sooil’s case, he never brought himself to ask.

  
  


“Guess I’ll have no choice but to accept your conditions then.” She opened the studio’s doors right after and greeted a man who was there. “I hope you don’t mind taking a few test shots today. I’ll send the pictures to the image consultant so that she can find the best concept for my handsome son.”

  
  


Jinhyuk must have seen this coming but he decided not to complain and just follow her instructions. This shouldn’t take long anyway.

  
  


The man inside seemed to be the company photographer. He greeted Jinhyuk politely and continued to check on his equipment.

  
  


“I would like for you to change into this shirt if possible. Turtle-necks are not your thing.” Inna came from behind him with a white shirt on her hand. Jinhyuk supposed she was having a lot of fun forcing him to say yes to her requests. He wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly asked him to fetch her coffee or something.

  
  


“You’re really demanding today.” Inna just laughed while Jinhyuk took out his shirt. 

  
  


She opened the shirt and was helping him put it on but suddenly she stopped on her tracks and stood still as a rock.

  
  


Jinhyuk turned around to see what was wrong and came face to face with his mother’s shocked face.

  
  


“Ummm… Mr. Kim, I don’t think today’s a good day. Can we reschedule?” she was speaking to the photographer but her eyes never left Jinhyuk’s back. “Please, leave us alone.”

  
  


The man didn’t ask any questions and quickly left the place. A heavy atmosphere filled the room.

  
  


“Please tell me you got into a fight and that’s not what I think it is…”

  
  


Jinhyuk was lost for a second. He didn’t understand what she was referring to until he followed the direction of her gaze.

  
  


The mating bite.

He had completely forgotten about it. It had become such an inherent part of him that he completely forgot that it was even there.

He quickly buttoned his shirt and turned around to meet his mother face to face. And she looked horrified. At that moment, Jinhyuk felt his world falling apart.

“Jinhyuk, please... talk to me.” Jinhyuk was at a loss for words. It all seemed easier on his head. Mainly because on his head, Inna wasn’t showing that pained expression. “Is that...”

He took a deep breath and tried to get a grip on the little courage he had left. “It’s a mating mark.” He had to be strong, for both him and Wooseok. “I’m dating a werewolf.”

Inna’s eyes became impossibly bigger. If she wasn’t a vampire, he could swear that she looked like she could faint at any moment.

After a few seconds in silence that felt eternal, she spoke again.

“Since when?” She took her eyes away from her son. Jinhyuk felt a pang on his chest.

“We started dating ten months ago.” He heard a gasp. 

Inna looked at his son again. Jinhyuk could see a variety of emotions there. Pain. Worry. Fear? But the curious thing is that he never sensed anger coming from her.

“I’m going to tell you this for your own good.” Now, a new emotion appeared in her eyes. Determination. “If you’re experimenting and want to try new things, you must know that this won’t go anywhere; you’re just wasting your time.” Jinhyuk was about to shout out that it was not the case, that what he felt for Wooseok was more than just curiosity or a fling but Inna didn’t give him the chance. “But if you’re really serious, you need to end that relationship for good.”

He couldn’t say he hadn’t been expecting something like this. Still, it didn’t hurt any less.

“Up until now I have done everything you asked me to...” He clenched his fists. “But I won’t give up on Wooseok.” He thought about Wooseok, about his smile, about the happiness he felt whenever they were together. “I am in love with him.”

His mother looked down. She looked unusually troubled. It was hard for him to read her.

“Son... You can get tremendously hurt from this relationship. Wolves are very different from us...”

“I already know that. But we can’t be rivals forever, mother! Wolves and vampires are learning to coexist now! Even you have colleagues that are wolves!” He started raising his voice without noticing it.

“Working with wolves and coexisting with them is one thing. But dating one? It's dangerous, Jinhyuk. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”

Jinhyuk didn’t want to utter another word. God knows what he would be capable of saying if he kept talking.

“Please... I’m begging you. Think this over. I don’t want to see you hurt.” In a last attempt to connect with her son, she reached out to touch his cheek but Jinhyuk turned around before she could touch him. He took his shirt and opened the door to leave.

“Tell me the date of the shooting. I’ll be there.”

He was going to do everything his mother wanted but not breaking up with Wooseok. Never.

Inside the empty studio, Inna let out a sigh.

____

He was fuming. He wanted to punch a wall so badly. The vampire had left quickly because he didn’t want to fight with her mother but that didn’t mean he wasn’t angry or frustrated.

Jinhyuk knew that this outcome was a possibility but he had chosen to remain optimistic. But still, his mother's response confused him. She never seemed mad or disappointed. She just looked scared and even if all her arguments were kind of valid, he wondered if there was some hidden reason for that fear.

He didn’t remember how he got into his apartment but he just wanted to disappear for a day. He wanted to stare at the ceiling the whole day and not think about choosing between his relationship or his family. Why did life have to be so hard?

He was planning to do just that but when he opened the door, he was welcomed by his little boyfriend, sitting on the couch, munching some chips while watching TV. Wooseok had turned around at the sound of the door opening and immediately got up and approached the vampire with a worried expression.

Jinhyuk couldn’t get himself to get angry at Wooseok for skipping university. Without uttering a single word, he engulfed the shorter male in an embrace and suddenly, everything was alright again. He felt relieved, he felt at peace… He felt home.

The wolf didn’t ask any questions and simply returned the embrace. Jinhyuk felt so lucky to have Wooseok. With the omega in his arms, he felt as if he was holding his whole world. There was no way this was a fling. His feelings were as real as the boy in his arms. He took a deep breath and got drunk on his boyfriend’s aroma. He had learned how to appreciate the smell of gasoline.

“I guess things with your mother didn’t go well.” 

He had sent Wooseok a text regarding his intentions of telling her mother about them. He had wanted to say it in person but never knew how to bring it up. Although it had been a spur of the moment decision, he didn't want to do anything without his boyfriend's consent. Jinhyuk had told Wooseok about his family before but none of them could guess what their reactions would be.

Wooseok was at his dorm when he got the text and he had quickly called Jinhyuk. The vampire hadn't wanted to pick up at the time, afraid that his resolve would crumble. However and surprisingly for him, his omega had been more than supportive and he had assured the taller man that no matter what happened, they would always have each other. It was those words that have given him the strength to face his mother figure. Unfortunately, that had not been enough.

Jinhyuk didn't answer. He didn't want to think about it. He just wanted to make the most of the time with his boyfriend. Which reminded him…

"I thought I told you not to skip classes anymore."

The omega huffed. "I couldn't stand still after our call. How was I supposed to concentrate in class?" He felt a little hit on his back. "Also… Here I am, giving you all my love and support and what do I get in return? A scolding. I should stop running to you all the time."

Jinhyuk laughed and separated a little from the other to look at his beautiful face. He would never get tired of thinking about how perfect Wooseok was.

"You're right… I'm sorry."

The omega put his delicate hand on his boyfriend's cheek. It was amazing how he always knew what to do to make Jinhyuk feel better.

"Everything's going to be okay. We'll find a way… we always do, right?"

Jinhyuk put his palm on top of his lover's and moved his face a little in order to plant a kiss on that precious hand.

"How is it that you always know what to say?"

"I'm that amazing." They laughed together. Jinhyuk's worries were pushed to the side as all bad things did whenever he was with Wooseok.

Afterward, Wooseok led Jinhyuk to the couch. He sat next to the vampire, put his head on the taller's shoulder, and started to play with his fingers.

These little moments felt like heaven.

"I… have something to ask." Jinhyuk hoped it wasn't anything related to the conversation with his mother; he didn't want to ruin his good mood. But, knowing Wooseok, he would probably try to avoid the topic and distract him with another thing. Still, Wooseok seemed nervous, it appeared to be something important.

"Ask away."

“Remember that I told you about the university festival that would take place next month?” Of course Jinhyuk remembered. Wooseok and Yein’s university was holding a festival where all the departments would show their specialties and try to attract new students. The music department was preparing a concert where the students had to perform an original song. The omega had told him that not everyone would be able to participate so the university had decided to select only twelve acts. Each student interested in participating had to send a demo of their song. 

At the time Wooseok was not sure about participating but Jinhyuk encouraged him to give it a try. He had even suggested holding a mini audition in his living room so that he could hear Wooseok’s song but the shorter one got flustered and refused. Jinhyuk had been pestering him about the song ever since but the omega would change the topic each time.

Jinhyuk had already heard Wooseok singing. He would hum his favorite songs whenever they helped Yein reorganize the books in the library; he would sing enthusiastically whenever they watched a musical on TV. When he discovered Wooseok’s beautiful voice, he had bothered the wolf about it. He always pushed requests on him and his boyfriend would gladly sing for him -not without jokingly complaining before he actually did it.-. However, original songs were out of the question.

He supposed Wooseok was shy or felt as if their songs weren’t good enough and no matter how many encouraging words Jinhyuk used, it had all been in vain. Wooseok would always blush and say ‘not yet’. A little part of him wanted to believe his lover was writing a song about him. 

“I… was chosen to perform.” The vampire’s head shot towards the omega who was still looking down.

“That is… amazing, Wooseok. Though, I had no doubt you’d get chosen. You have a beautiful voice.” He thought about Wooseok on a stage, shining blindingly and enchanting the audience with his sweet voice. How he wished to be part of that audience… but it was asking for too much. “I’ll make sure Yein records it for me from the first row.”

All of a sudden, Wooseok stopped playing with his fingers. “That’s what I wanted to talk to you about…”

Slowly, the omega’s eyes met his mate’s, his cheeks with a subtle pink tint. “I want you to come.”

Was he dreaming? No. He couldn’t let his imagination run wild.

“I’d love to… I can go as Yein’s friend. We can meet in our park after the festival to spend some time togeth-”

“No… I want you to come… as my boyfriend.”

Jinhyuk felt as if he would collapse at any time. He untangled his hand from Wooseok’s and brought it to his cheek. “Are you sure?” He had to be cautious. He didn’t want what happened today with his mother repeating. 

Wooseok nodded “I want to introduce you to my friends at the festival.”

The vampire looked away. He still was doubtful about it all and Wooseok caught up quickly.

“Hey, look at me.” He held the vampire’s face on his hands. “I told you everything’s going to be okay… and I’m never wrong.” The omega smirked at his boyfriend. Jinhyuk was completely lost in Kim Wooseok and he never wanted to be found.

He stole a quick kiss from the other’s mouth. It was chaste and fast, but enough to let the other know that he agreed. Everything was going to be okay.

“When was the festival again? I’ll have to look presentable.”

“Please don’t go overboard…Also… about the date...”

“Should I wear a suit?” He was silenced when a cushion collided with his face. What was Wooseok’s obsession with throwing things at him?

“I’m starting to regret this.” said the omega jokingly with a sigh. “Anyways… the date is December 10th. There’s still a month to go but try to remember it.”

“Oh! Then that means we can celebrate our eleventh monthiversary at the festival!” answered the vampire with an excited tone.

The wolf sighed once again. “I’ve already told you… there’s no need to celebrate each month… We look like a couple of high schoolers.”

“You’re right… We should celebrate every day instead!” He circled Wooseok with his arms while the flustered omega tried to get away repeating that it was immature but Jinhyuk knew he secretly liked the attention. “Come on, it’s the last month we’ll celebrate… after all, we’re close to our first year together already.”

Jinhyuk felt the omega relaxing in his embrace and putting his cheek on the vampire’s shoulder. Wooseok had never been good with words but through all the time they had been together, Jinhyuk already knew how to read him. Wooseok was probably thinking the same as him… How lucky they were to have found each other.

The vampire ran his hands up and down Wooseok’s back making the wolf shiver with his cold touch. “Since you invited me somewhere, I guess it’s only natural that I do too, right?”

“What do you mean?” answer the smaller male.

“My photography contest. The exposition of the competitors will be on the 13th, three days after the festival. I want to introduce you to my mentor and my friends there.” Wooseok already knew about the contest. Jinhyuk’s mentor had encouraged him to participate and the first person Jinhyuk had told was his boyfriend. The theme was “happy place”. A very broad concept indeed but the vampire had a vague idea of what he wanted to present. Of course, no one apart from his mentor had seen the picture he had sent. Even though he wanted to show Wooseok, he had decided to be patient and wait until the day when the results were announced, hoping he would get one of the first places.

Wooseok turned his head and looked at Jinhyuk with a calm expression. Jinhyuk could see how his boyfriend’s eyes took the shape of little crescents. “I’d love to go.”

The first thought that popped into the tall man’s head at that moment was ‘I want to kiss him.’ And once again, he was surprised by how well Wooseok could read him when the omega got closer and crashed their lips together.

The kiss started slow and sweet, both tasting the moment and each other's lips. Despite Wooseok’s smell, the taste of his lips was a different story. If he had to put it in words, he would say Wooseok’s kisses taste like heaven.

Wooseok was starting to get restless. His hands moved towards Jinhyuk’s hair and tugged on it, trying to edge the vampire as well. Jinhyuk wanted to give in so bad. He lost his composure when he felt the omega’s tongue searching for his own. Of course the vampire would not let him wait and the kiss became more heated than before. 

Jinhyuk’s hands moved downwards and cupped the smaller male’s bottom in his hands. Wooseok let out a whimper at this and pressed himself further in search for friction.

Oh, how Jinhyuk wanted to ravish him. 

However, he had to listen to the rational part of his mind. 

He separated his mouth from Wooseok’s, leaving the omega waiting for more. “Wooseok. Stop.”

“Why?” the wolf wasn’t going to give up so he directed his attention to the vampire’s neck and started nibbling and leaving little kisses there. 

Jinhyuk did his best to fight against it even though he could feel his member hardening. “You have classes tomorrow… I don’t want you to skip again.”

Wooseok gave one last lick to Jinhyuk’s neck and looked him right in the eyes while pouting. “Why does my boyfriend have to be so righteous?” He seemed to have understood or at least that’s what Jinhyuk thought until he felt the shorter one’s hand massaging his member through his trousers.

“H-hey!” 

“Let me take care of this at least…” Wooseok would definitely be the death of him.

The omega undid his lover’s belt slowly, savoring every moment and stealing sneaking glances at Jinhyuk. The vampire could see mischief in Wooseok’s eyes.

After getting rid of the belt, he unbuttoned the jeans and, instead of handling the zipper with his hand, he decided to use his mouth instead. Jinhyuk fought back a grunt. 

Wooseok freed Jinhyuk’s member from all the cloth that had been hiding it and suggestively licked his lips when it stood in front of him. He was always impressed with the omega’s changed behavior during their intimate activities. The wolf tended to become more submissive during his heats, he liked to be pampered and cared for, he enjoyed being praised. However, there were times when Wooseok wanted to be in control and guide the process with his own rules. But there were also times when the omega enjoyed being treated roughly.

One thing was sure. The vampire enjoyed all of his boyfriend’s moods equally.

The wolf gave him a slow pump, trying him. “Excited much?” Jinhyuk wanted to shove his cock into the other’s mouth to shut him up. Good thing he was a gentleman.

He’d rather use one of the other’s weaknesses against him.

_ Praise _ .

The vampire lifted one hand and guided towards the other’s hair to brush it softly. “Such a good boy… aren’t you the one getting excited by seeing me like this?” He watched as Wooseok’s cheeks reddened and he knew he had won this round.

With the encouragement, Wooseok started to fasten the pace of his hand. On the corner of his eye, Jinhyuk could see how the omega moved his free hand towards his own member and started to stroke himself. Another win for the vampire.

He closed his eyes as he felt closer to his release but all of a sudden, the stroking stopped. Jinhyuk opened them again, in search of answers. What a mistake. Wooseok was looking directly at his eyes while his mouth engulfed the vampire’s member bit by bit. He released a loud groan.

_ This round is yours, Kim Wooseok _ .

Jinhyuk decided to just surrender to the pleasure for now. He would have plenty of opportunities to play with the shorter male. 

He felt Wooseok’s hot breath on his member and he resisted the urge to move his hips. He just kept stroking the wolf’s hair, showering him with praise. ‘Yes, like that’. ‘Good boy. ‘You are so good to your mate’.

Wooseok seemed to get excited with each sentence and picked up the pace each time, slurping and licking without restraint.

“Wooseok… Stop already....” He couldn’t contain it anymore but instead of releasing his member, the omega sucked harder. Jinhyuk cursed the little boy as he came in his mouth. Wooseok swallowed the white liquid and licked his lips afterward with a satisfied expression.

Jinhyuk was breathless. His boyfriend was dangerous. He sometimes wondered how nobody else had claimed such a beautiful omega before. Alphas surely lined up to get Wooseok’s attention but he was so happy that the wolf had chosen him. 

“You’re sure you don’t want to let me skip?” Wooseok dared to say with a wink. 

“Go clean yourself and I’ll take you back.” Patience was a virtue and Wooseok was sure testing Jinhyuk’s every day.

“You’re no fun.” but the young werewolf obeyed.

__________

Two days after, Wooseok was left thinking about ways to help his boyfriend with his mother’s issue. There really wasn’t much he could do from his position but he was willing to try. He thought about meeting her himself. Maybe she would like him in spite of being a werewolf and it would all be miraculously solved. Sadly, real life was not that easy.

He didn’t know her name and he had no way of contacting her. Jinhyuk had mentioned that his mother was pretty well-off and had a successful business which was kind of obvious judging by the fact that the vampire’s apartment was enormous and he had a studio of his own despite only having a few sporadic jobs here and there. 

Wooseok had wanted to ask Yein about it, to see if he had some kind of contact information but he wasn’t sure if his friend was acquaintances with Jinhyuk’s family. He didn’t want to disclose anything Jinhyuk hadn’t wanted to tell the smaller vampire.

The truth was Jinhyuk was rarely secretive with Wooseok. He knew about his transformation and about his brothers and sister. The vampire had also mentioned the issue with Sooil but he never disclosed much of his family’s business and Wooseok didn’t want to pry. His boyfriend had said that whenever he was with Wooseok, he wanted to be a normal boy (or at least as normal as a vampire dating a werewolf could be) and he didn’t want to feel his family’s name chaining him. That’s why he had kept his old surname.

He was pondering long and hard about it while he waited for his instant noodles to cool down. The omega had gone out of campus into a convenience store to pass the time because he felt like the walls of his dorm were suffocating. And the best way to think of a course of action was with a full stomach. He was currently sitting in front of the window, watching the people pass by. He wondered which kind of secret lives these people were living. 

A woman caught his attention. Her skin was a translucent white and she was wearing sunglasses that contrasted with it. She was wearing a black dress with a white jacket. The first thought that went through Wooseok’s head was ‘expensive’.

To the wolf’s surprise, she entered the convenience store and looked around. Wooseok thought that she felt awfully out of place. Why would a woman like that ever set foot in a place like this? Not to put the convenience store down, he loved that place but he imagined people like that woman would fit better at expensive restaurants. 

Wooseok was afraid he was staring too much but he was trying to make up a hidden life for this person. One of his possibilities was that this was a rich woman who wanted a taste of ‘common life’ as he had seen in some dramas.

He decided to stop staring and focus on his cup noodles, they should be ready by now. He took off the lid and stirred a little with his chopsticks. It smelled delicious. He took a mouthful of noodles and tried not to be too loud while slurping. 

While he was enjoying his food, the mysterious woman sat on the bench beside him and put her own instant noodles in front of her. Wooseok felt a weird odor coming from her and he immediately knew. She was a vampire.

Weird. They were in a werewolf district. Of course, he knew there were some vampires living there but the ones with a high position tended to live in the vampire district. 

He watched from the corner of his eyes as the woman took off her sunglasses and turned towards him. 

“Are you Kim Wooseok?”

The omega almost choked. He coughed a little and looked towards the unknown woman. She seemed to already know the answer to her question. Who was this person and how did he know him? 

“You must be surprised… I’m sorry about that.” She handed him a tissue and he took it and bowed slightly. He cleaned his mouth and looked for any stain on his clothes. Luckily, everything was intact.

Except for his sanity. What the hell was going on?

“Oh, I should introduce myself, right? My name is Yoo Inna.” She took something from his purse and handed it to him. It was a black business card. Her name was on top of it, written in golden letters, and right below it, it read “CEO of Yoo Inc.”

Wooseok almost fell off the chair.

He had flashbacks to Jinhyuk’s cameras and equipment and the golden words that adorned them. “Yoo.” No. She couldn’t possibly be…

“I am Jinhyuk’s mother.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my god, what will happen?!?! jk, of course, I know... I wonder what you all think hehe~  
> Please feel free to vent, rant, throw tomatoes or any fruit you like in the comment section and you can also pester me on my twitter @wblobfishbells  
> See u next time!


	4. You can leave first (so it's less painful)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! We're close to the end already  
> I'm sorry for the wait! I had all the chapter planned but it turned out being longer than I expected, hope you enjoy it!   
> Next chapter will be the last one and I'm sure it will be as long as this one hehe ♥

“I am Jinhyuk’s mother.”

Wooseok stopped breathing for a second. It couldn’t be… This woman was nothing like what he had imagined. He had thought of a stone-faced woman with cold demeanor, maybe a little older but nothing like the person who was sitting in front of him. Inna was smiling at him, her cheeks were kind of chubby and her face gave an innocent vibe. She was wearing a light blue coat which also made her seem approachable. 

It’s true that he had been thinking about reaching out to Jinhyuk’s mother himself, so as to make her see that he was a good match for his son, despite being from a different species. He would appeal to her, maybe invite them to dinner at a fancy restaurant; Jinhyuk at his side, both of them in a suit… He hadn’t really pictured meeting her in a convenience store over two bowls of instant noodles. 

He heard a harmonious laugh coming from the woman’s mouth and only then did he notice he had been staring at her with his mouth wide open. He quickly closed his mouth and cleared his throat. “It’s nice to meet you… madam.” Wooseok wasn’t sure how to address her. “My name is Kim Wooseok… I’m…”

“You’re Jinhyuk’s boyfriend, I know.” She took out the lid of her noodle cup and grabbed her chopsticks. “Also, no need to be so formal, Inna is fine.” The woman started eating as if nothing was happening. Wooseok would have liked to do the same but he was beyond nervous. He might’ve thrown up if he took even a bite of his food. 

The werewolf wondered if he should say something. It was clear now that she knew exactly who he was and Wooseok didn’t think the woman had come to this exact store to eat instant noodles. She had come to meet him. Wooseok guessed Jinhyuk wasn’t aware of any of this. If that had been the case, he would have warned Wooseok. Actually, he wouldn’t have even let Wooseok meet her mother alone, judging from his behavior from the other day.

He cleared his throat once again, this time determined to introduce himself correctly. “That's correct. Jinhyuk and I have been dating for ten months already. I’m aware that you weren’t very happy with the news but…” his hands were shaking. He kept them locked together over his lap, in an attempt to not let his nervousness show too much. He had to be brave. “I beg you to reconsider and try to accept our relationship. We don’t care about the rivalry between wolves and vampires… and…” he stuttered at some point but he didn’t stop. Inna didn’t make any attempt to stop him anyway. She was looking at him attentively. “He makes me really happy and I know he’s happy with me too.” He smiled a little thinking about it. Maybe Inna would believe that he thought highly of himself but it was the truth. The smile Jinhyuk gave him whenever they were together couldn’t be a lie. “We are aware of all the difficulties our relationship will bring but we are prepared to go through every challenge in order to be together.”

The omega thought it was high time he stopped rambling so he decided to remain silent. There were a lot of things he wanted to say but he hadn’t been prepared for this meeting so he didn’t want to take any chances.

Inna was still smiling but her eyes looked sad. She sighed and looked down for a moment but then returned her eyes to Wooseok. “You’re adorable…” Well, Wooseok had been expecting a lot of things but not that comment. “I get why Jinhyuk chose you.”

Wooseok was beaming inside. Did that mean that she accepted them? He didn’t want to be very hopeful… After all, it seemed like Inna wasn’t done talking.

“But this thing you two have… is dangerous.” Her eyes became even sadder. It seemed as if she was thinking about something that Wooseok couldn’t quite grasp. “You don’t understand it right now but when you do… It will be too late.”

She stared at Wooseok with pleading eyes. “So, please… Just break up with Jinhyuk and move on.”

Break… up? The omega started shaking his head before any coherent words could come out of his mouth.

"No." He just blurted out the first word that came to mind. However, the look the woman was giving him made it hard to snap at her. She looked miserable and desperate.

Before Wooseok could try to convince her again, Jinhyuk's mother raised her hand and touched his neck with her fingers. The wolf shivered. He wasn't sure if it was because of the coldness of her hand or because he was afraid. "You shouldn't have done this…" The woman sighed and removed her hand.

A second later, Wooseok realized the spot she had touched was where his scent gland was located. Exactly where Jinhyuk had left his mark.

"I can't do it… I love him, we won't break up." He wanted to shout at her but he didn't want to be disrespectful. Inna didn't seem angry and that's what frustrated Wooseok the most. He got up from his seat, noodle cup untouched, and darted towards the door. He needed to get out of there.

But he had forgotten about the vampire's abilities. In the blink of an eye, she was there, right next to him on the sidewalk. "Listen, Wooseok… I…" she seemed to be pondering about what to say next. "I don't want you to think that I want to ruin Jinhyuk's happiness."

It was really hard to think otherwise. He wanted to say that but he remained silent. He was sure that no matter what she told him, he would never change his mind.

"Has Jinhyuk told you about his brother, Sooil?" There they were again, those sad eyes. This time, Wooseok understood the reason. Jinhyuk had the same eyes when he had told Wooseok about his deceased brother. He also mentioned that he wanted to discover the real reason behind it… but did that have anything to do with Wooseok and Jinhyuk? Why was Inna bringing that up? 

He nodded. This time, he gave the woman his full attention. She seemed surprised after Wooseok's answer.

After Inna's display of supernatural speed, many people were staring at them. "If you don't mind… Can we continue this conversation somewhere more private? I promise I won't take long." She suggested gesturing to what Wooseok guessed was her car.

He was doubtful. What if this woman kidnapped him or something? Nevertheless, his curiosity got the best of him. Would he finally be able to disclose one of Jinhyuk's family mysteries? Maybe he could learn more about them and understand the reason behind those sad eyes.

The omega followed the vampire woman into the back seat. The driver on the front asked where to and she simply commanded him to drive around the neighborhood but not too far from there. Wooseok guessed he should no longer worry about being kidnapped.

"I'm surprised my son told you about Sooil… You are a lot closer than I expected." Wooseok felt a little proud after hearing that remark. She should think twice before separating them.

Inna smiled sadly before starting her tale as if she had remembered a tender memory but, at the same time, a memory she wouldn't be able to relive again.

"Sooil was the first person I turned into a vampire. It was during World War I. I was working as a nurse… well, more like that was my cover. I used to feed on severely wounded soldiers." Wooseok couldn't help but wonder how long had this woman been around. "I met Sooil there. He was in very bad shape but he still cracked jokes and seemed stronger than anyone else. I enjoyed his company a lot and I wanted to protect him… but it was pretty clear he wouldn't make it."

She took a breath and went on "It was a hard choice. I knew more than anyone else how draining a long-lasting life could be but I would guide him through it. I turned him into a vampire so he wouldn't die." Surprisingly, Inna laughed. "I thought he would be mad at me but he was pretty amazed by his new life. I raised him as my son and taught him everything he needed to know. He also did the same with his new sister and brother. Sooil was really charismatic and it was hard not to like him." 

Wooseok thought that he would have liked to meet this person. He wondered if Sooil would accept him as Jinhyuk's lover.

"One day… Sooil told me he was in love." She laughed slightly. "I was ecstatic. He deserved all the love in the world and I was glad he had finally found the one for him." 

Then, Inna sighed and realization dawned in Wooseok. The reason why this woman was telling this story… maybe, just maybe it was possible that Sooil…

"It was a werewolf." The words were out of his mouth before he had time to process them. Instead of posing it as a question, it came out as an affirmation. Inna looked at him and nodded with a solemn expression.

"I was not very on board with the idea at first… but Sooil just had that power to convince you of anything." She smiled once again and in that smile, the werewolf could see that she really loved her children. He was feeling kind of bad for making her relive these memories but his curiosity was bigger. "His name was Minsoo. Sooil introduced him to me once. I must admit they were really cute together."

"That was the happiest I had ever seen him," she continued. "It was all well for a few months but…" her expression became somber. "All of a sudden he started behaving weirdly, he was angry or sad all the time, he refused to eat, he seemed drained and tired, there were days he couldn't even get up from the bed. I decided to confront him about it and he told me Minsoo had broken up with him." 

Wooseok understood even less. If Minsoo and Sooil's separation was what caused the latter so much pain, why did Jinhyuk's mother want to separate them?

"I just thought Sooil was being overdramatic and that he would get over it with time but he got worse every time. I was curious about Minsoo's reasons, I was even prepared to convince him to go back with Sooil, so I secretly met up with Minsoo's older brother… Lee Dongwook."

"Wait… Lee Dongwook as in… president Lee Dongwook?"

"Exactly." She sounded annoyed. "His surname at the time was Go though, not Lee…" before Wooseok could ask why the woman went on. He didn't think it was that important either. "I was sure he knew about their relationship so I asked for his help to get them back together but…" she had been looking down during the whole story but this time she turned towards Wooseok and held his gaze.

"Are you familiar with the term 'fated mates'?" Of course he was. Every wolf's dream was to find their fated mate. It was like having a soulmate, a person you were destined to be together with. He didn't like the concept of 'destiny' or 'soulmate' that much. He'd rather make his own decision and not have everything planned out for him. He knew of a case though: his mothers were fated mates.

"Yes…" He could see it clearly now. The omega felt his hands becoming sweaty.

"Dongwook told me that Minsoo had found his fated mate… so he would not see Sooil anymore." Her gaze traveled from Wooseok's eyes to his neck "I thought I had to give my son more time to heal but he just got worse… and it was all because of the mark."

The wolf unconsciously covered the mark with his hand.

"Just like you and Jinhyuk, both Minsoo and Sooil had the bond marks. And the one in Sooil's neck was draining him… stealing every bit of life he had left. He always told me that… he felt like dying. It broke my heart every time. And the worst part was that I couldn't do anything about it, we couldn’t help him, we couldn’t save him." She bit her lip and Wooseok witnessed as one single red drop fell from her right eye. The omega had heard rumors about vampires ‘crying blood’ but he had thought it was another wolf way of mocking their natural enemies. It was the first time he had seen it first hand.

He felt awkward as if he was barging into someone’s personal shrine of memories. The omega now understood the woman’s worries. It wasn’t just because of a simple rivalry between species or the pretensions of a rich woman. Inna had genuinely been affected by his first son’s death.

“It won’t happen to us…” he hated the way his voice faltered when he spoke. Why was doubt growing in the young wolf’s heart?

Inna gave him a sympathetic smile. “You can’t know that, Wooseok… I know your feelings for Jinhyuk are strong but… once you meet your fated mate, you’ll forget all about my son.” He wanted to retaliate, to deny her claims but the words appeared to be stuck on his throat. He threw one last sympathetic look towards the omega’s direction and delivered a phrase that made Wooseok’s world crumble. “It’s part of your instincts. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

The worst part was that it was true and he had thought about it more times than he wanted to admit. He knew he would always be chained down by his inner wolf. He thought he had gained some control over it after he started dating Jinhyuk, but deep inside he was still bound by the werewolf world rules.

“I…” Could he ever love someone else as hard as he loved Jinhyuk? No, that wasn’t possible… but still a part of him just knew it was beyond his control. He wanted to run away. He wanted to nest on Jinhyuk clothes and never go out again. He started sweating heavily. “I have to go.”

The car had stopped at a red light and Wooseok took the opportunity to open the door, but before he could go out, Inna grabbed him by the arm. “Please… Take some time to think about it and I beg you not to tell Jinhyuk about this conversation. Help me save him… both of you… from the pain.”

Wooseok shook off her arm and sprinted out of the car. He didn’t want to think anymore, he just wanted to escape from everything, from the twisted fate that had made him fall in love with a vampire, the same one that had made him a werewolf. Before he could notice, tears started streaming down his face.

He couldn’t return to the dorm, not in his current state at least. His friends would start asking and he was in no mood to give explanations. Going to Jinhyuk was out of the question. There was no way he could mask his feelings in front of the vampire.

Only one place came to mind. He stopped running and looked for a cab frenetically. Luckily for him, the street was filled with them so he just took the first one he saw. Once he gave the driver the address, he took a deep breath. It smelled like cheap men perfume. The driver was definitely a human. He suppressed a sigh of relief.

The omega would never admit it out loud but after his conversation with the vampire lady, he was extra aware of people. He didn’t want to run with any alpha today. The wolf was scared of suddenly meeting his fated mate. He had never been interested in it and he never thought it would happen to him. After meeting Jinhyuk he completely forgot about the existence of this random alpha supposedly fated to be with him. He didn’t need anyone else, he only needed Jinhyuk. Then why was he being so paranoid?

He tried not to think about it while he scratched his palm, trying to make the odd feeling disappear but his efforts were unsuccessful. Wooseok palmed his jeans in search of his phone until he remembered he had left it charging in his bedroom. Great. He would have to settle with the view outside the window.

Little by little, the scenery started to become familiar. Through the window, he could see the bakery where his mom bought him his favorite apple crumbles, also the supermarket where his ma had once forgotten him -he had a blast though.- and a lot of other places that reminded him of his childhood. 

He looked for his spare key while the cab stopped, he hadn’t stopped crying the whole ride but luckily the driver was not the talkative type and he didn’t ask any questions. His mothers would, though… He didn’t know if he was prepared but he would cross that bridge once he got there. Right now, he just needed a hug from his ma while she told him that everything would be okay.

Wooseok wanted to be as silent as possible in order not to startle his ma who was surely the only one at home if he remembered their schedules correctly. He closed the door carefully and sniffed the area. It smelled like vanilla, just like he remembered from his childhood, the scent of one of his mothers. The nostalgic scene filled him with sadness and he started crying again. Oh, how he wanted to be a kid once again.

He didn’t lose more time and looked for his ma. She would definitely be taking care of the garden. The moment he stepped outside and saw her, he ran towards her and hugged her from behind. 

His mother, Yoojung, was several feet smaller than him, but he still felt safe as if he was five years old. The woman turned around and smiled at him but her smile faded once he saw his son’s face. 

“What happened, Woo?” She took off her gardening gloves and rushed to clean his son’s stained cheeks. However, Wooseok didn’t have the energy to talk, at least not yet so he just hugged her tighter and put his forehead on her shoulder, releasing all that he was bottling inside.

He cried and whined like a baby while Yoojung simply stroked his back and hummed a lullaby. She used to say it was her secret recipe for curing sadness. But Wooseok wondered why it wasn’t working this time.

After he had calmed down a little, his mom guided him inside of the house and into the living room. She hurried to the kitchen to prepare some tea for both of them and sat next to her son on the sofa. 

“You should’ve told me you were coming… I would have prepared something else,” said Yoojung with a smile. But after seeing Wooseok’s gloomy expression, her smile faded. “I guess you wouldn’t.”

Her hands held Wooseok’s right hand while she looked at him tenderly. “It’s been a while since you last visited… Is something wrong?” She guided one of her hands to his son’s chin and made him face her. “You know you can tell me everything, right?”

The omega avoided her gaze. He had never even told his family that he was seeing someone. He called them periodically though but as Yoojung had said, he hadn’t visited them for at least seven months. However, Doyeon and Yoojung were very understanding of their son so they never complained. They knew Wooseok was an adult already and he wouldn’t be with them forever.

He had come with one purpose in mind. To tell his mother about everything he had been keeping inside, to let all of his secrets out into the air. Yoojung had always been the one who spoiled him and forgave him easily. He was suddenly glad his alpha mother was not at home at that moment. It would have been nice to see her too but he wouldn’t have been able to lead with both of them.

“I’m… I have a boyfriend…” That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say but it was difficult to organize the thoughts in his head. 

Wooseok notices how his mother’s eyes sparkled for a second until she seemed to notice the state the omega was on. “You don’t sound too happy about it… Did you two have a fight?” Her brows knitted.

He shook his head violently. If there was one thing he was sure about, it had to be the happiness he felt since he started dating Jinhyuk. “Not at all… On the contrary, I’m… really happy. Dammit, I’ve never been happier...” Wooseok couldn’t contain himself and the tears started flowing once more. He didn’t want that to end, he didn’t want his life to be governed by some dumb wolf rules, he didn’t want to hurt the vampire he had grown to love so much. 

“Then what is the problem? Maybe taking it out of your chest will make you feel bett-.”

“He’s a vampire,” he interrupted her before she could finish and avoided her eyes. It was better to stop beating around the bush and get this over with. If his mother decided not to see him anymore or to scold him or whatever, she should just start doing it now. However, he was not expecting that from her omega mother. A little part inside of him wanted to believe that she would support him. He would decide his next move depending on her response.

He tentatively looked up and was met with her surprised look. She was apparently still processing the information. After what it felt like an eternity for Wooseok, Yoojung finally released a little… laugh?

Okay, he was not expecting that.

“Oh, Wooseok… There’s nothing wrong with experiencing something new…” She patted his hair tenderly. “You’re in that age where you’re eager for danger and want to rebel against everyone… Ah, Doyeon said you would go through that phase but I wasn’t really sure.”

Did she just call his love for Jinhyuk… a phase? He didn’t like where this was going.

She went on. “I shouldn’t be so surprised… I also wanted thrills when I was younger. That’s why I did the same as you.”

Stop. She wasn’t implying she had had a romance with a vampire, right? His eyes grew impossibly wide while he looked towards his mom. “You… dated a vampire?”

Yoojung nodded and took a sip from her cup. “His name was Park Woojin. It was weird but it was the escape I needed when I felt like nothing in my life was making sense. At least until I met Doyeon… Then I knew I didn’t need anything else.”

Wooseok got up from the sofa and clenched his fists. “Then what? You left Woojin?”

She looked confused but still answered anyway. “Of course, once you meet your fated mate, that person is the endgame. You haven’t experienced that yet but I’m sure when you do, you’ll understand…”

“I don’t want to…” He was shaking. “What about Woojin? Did you ever think about how he felt after that? Did you ever check up on him?” What if he had died just like Sooil had.

Yoojung started looking more worried by each second. “I’m sure he’s fine… We both knew it was impossible from the get-go, it was just a phase.” She reached for Wooseok but he got further from her. If she touched him, he would get angrier… not that he wasn’t already.

“That might have been true for you but not for me. I love Jinhyuk and he loves me back… I… I...”

And then he saw it. His mother looked at him with pity in her eyes, as if he was a child who just found out that Santa Claus was not real. “Woo, I’m sure when you meet your fated mate, you’ll unders-”

“I don’t want to.” He was screaming at this point.

The omega didn’t want to listen to her anymore. Any hope he had before, now shattered right in front of his eyes. He ran towards the door and started running nowhere. Wooseok just wanted to disappear.

_______

The camera flash was already blurring his vision. Jinhyuk had been in the studio for four hours already and he was already regretting his decision to take part in this family project. At least he hadn’t seen his mother today. He didn’t feel ready to face her just yet.

It was his sister, Nayoung, the one who had sent him the message with the schedule the day before. He was a little annoyed because of the short notice but he had managed somehow. He would still be glad to see his brother and sister.

Once he entered the studio, he was greeted with a hug from his sister and a pat on the back from his brother. They hadn’t caught up in a while so this would be the perfect opportunity. He wondered if their mother had mentioned anything about Jinhyuk’s lover but after talking with them for a while, they seemed to have been clueless. They mainly talked about work and the hobbies they had taken up: Nayoung was working with Inna side by side and was the one who had worked the most on the camera project. Jinhyuk was pretty sure that Inna would leave the company in his older sister’s hands once she decided to retire or do something else. On the other hand, Kookheon was still deciding what to do. He took up singing and dancing lessons but was also working hard on the gym in order to become an instructor, and during any free time he had, he researched about directing and filmmaking. He was truly a jack-of-all-trades.

The session went by normally, though Jinhyuk would glance at the door every now and then, dreading the moment his mother entered the room but it never happened. After a while, Nayoung told him that she would probably not come.

“She told me she had some urgent matters to attend to.” Nayoung shrugged and took a sip of water as she kept looking through the pictures they had just taken.

The photographer finally wrapped it up and Jinhyuk had to physically fight his urge to release a loud sigh of relief. They said farewell to the photographer and went to change into their regular clothes.

“We should grab some dinner,” Suggested Kookheon while he put on his jacket. “I know a good place near. They serve only the finest blood.” He licked his lips as if he could already taste in on his mouth. Jinhyuk laughed and nodded. Spending some more quality time with his siblings didn’t sound like a bad idea. 

The vampire remembered that he had saved some photos from today to show Wooseok later. He decided to send him a message and tell him about how the session had gone. It was already late, so Jinhyuk imagined he would be at the library at that time. Good! Wooseok would be able to boast about his handsome boyfriend with Yein.

He went to grab his bag and took the cellphone from inside. Quite a few messages had been delivered while he was at the photoshoot but he would go through them later. He opened the messaging app and noticed that he had received a message from Wooseok. 

The moment he read the words on the screen he stood there frozen.

«Let's break up. I’m sorry»

This had to be a joke, right? There was no way this message had come from Wooseok, his boyfriend, the person who had marked to be forever his and who had done the same with him. 

His head started spinning. Jinhyuk started to think of different scenarios. Maybe, just maybe, one of his friends had found out about them and decided to break them apart, maybe the omega had lost his phone somewhere and some random stranger found it and wanted to be funny. He didn't like this joke at all.

He quickly dialed Wooseok's number just to make sure and his nervousness only grew when his call went directly to voicemail. 

The vampire started sending the wolf messages but the only response he got was "Message Not Delivered".

In a rush, he took his bag and his coat and left the room with a frown. Kookheon asked him if he was ready to go have dinner but Jinhyuk just walked past him and said he was not going. He ignored his brother's questions as he rapidly exited the building.

Jinhyuk kept trying to call Wooseok but he was met with the voicemail every time. He hopped into his car and drove towards his boyfriend's university. He refused to believe this was Wooseok's doing but he needed to make sure. The library was his safest bet. He had to be there with Yein.

Once he arrived, he hastily opened the door and took a look around only to find a surprised Yein in the central desk. The short vampire shot him a warning look and made sure that no one was around to hear that unnecessarily loud entrance.

"What's up with you?" 

He completely ignored Yein's annoyed tone, he would apologize later. Right now, there was something more important to take care of. "Where's Wooseok?"

Yein's sight changed from annoyed to worried. "He didn't come today… He was also absent during the afternoon class we have together." He gestured to a folder on top of the counter. "I was planning to give him the notes… I also sent him a message to see if he was alright but he hasn't answered yet… Should I be worried?"

Jinhyuk was becoming more agitated. 'It's just a coincidence. A big coincidence.' 

"I don't know." Jinhyuk couldn't hold it anymore and dropped all his weight on a chair nearby. He held his head on his hands in an attempt to calm all the racing thoughts that were going through his head.

The other vampire rapidly left his post and rushed to his friend's side. "Did something happen?"

"I got a text from him. He said we should break up."

Yein's gasp could be heard through the entire library. "That… can't be…"

"That's what I think but… I don't like all these coincidences."

"Why would he break up with you? You were fine just a few days ago, right? Did he show any signs or…?" 

"Nothing I can think of." They had seen each other quite recently and everything had been perfect as usual. Wooseok was even eager to skip classes just to stay with Jinhyuk a little longer… What had changed?

"Did you try to call him?"

"He blocked me." Jinhyuk was still not sure if this had been Wooseok or some other person. He didn't want to leave the matter unresolved but he couldn't just barge in the omega's dorm uninvited. He looked at Yein with a pleading expression. "I know you're not going to like what I will ask you but please, Yein, you have to help me."

The other vampire sighed but nodded in the end. Yein was aware that he was the only one on campus who knew about Jinhyuk and Wooseok's relationship. "I'll try to talk to him during class… Hope his alpha friend won't try to bite my head off." He shuddered at the thought.

Jinhyuk thanked him a million times more. They both tried to contact the wolf once more but after a few tries, Yein convinced him to head home since there wasn't much they could do. 

The pale-skinned man didn't want to leave. The thought that his lover was close by but the fact that he couldn't just go and see him frustrated him to no end. He just had to hope that a message or a call would arrive the next day explaining that it was all a misunderstanding.

He was driving to his apartment when his phone suddenly started ringing. Jinhyuk answered on the first ring, in hopes that the omega's voice would surprise him from the other end. Unfortunately, it was not his little boyfriend but his mother who had called him.

"Oh, that was fast," said Inna with a surprised tone, as if she was expecting Jinhyuk to ignore the call. Well, she was right about that. Jinhyuk didn't even bother to see the name of the caller, he was too preoccupied with Wooseok to be bothered by anything else. If he had known it was his mother, he wouldn't have picked up. He was still pissed at her.

"What do you want? I'm busy right now." Busy waiting for a call that he wasn't sure he would receive.

"I'll be brief then." She sounded taken aback. On any other occasion, he would feel bad for treating her like that but at that moment he couldn't have cared less. "I need you to come to the building tomorrow and help me to plan on publicity and distribution."

"Isn't that Nayoung's job?" He was getting more irritated by the second. He had no time for this.

"She will be here, as well as Kookheon. The meeting is at ten o'clock."

"I'm busy."

"This is not a question Jinhyuk." It seemed she was fed up with playing it nice. "Be there tomorrow or I'll bring you myself." And of course, she hung up. 

The vampire threw his phone with force on the passenger seat and cursed loudly.

_________

He didn't want to wake up. The sunshine made its way through his curtains, filling the room with light but he still felt submerged in darkness. He hid under the covers and wondered if he could just disappear like that in complete silence.

But the silence didn't last long. His roommate opened the door with a bang. Wooseok guessed Yohan might be fuming at that moment, especially considering that he basically locked him outside of their shared room. In his defense, it had been Yohan’s fault for forgetting his keys inside the room. And who could blame him? The omega just wanted to be alone and he knew Yohan had a lot of friends at campus, surely one of them would let him crash in for the night.

“Care to explain why you exiled your friend from the room?” Wooseok didn’t even have the energy to answer. He just kept his eyes closed and hoped that his beta friend left him alone. But nothing was turning out the way he had planned these days, why would he expect any different?

Yohan pulled his cover to reveal Wooseok under them. He seemed prepared to scold him a little but his face changed the moment he saw Wooseok’s state. The omega was in the same clothes Yohan had seen him leave for class the day before and his eyes were red and swollen.

The omega hadn’t really had the time or the will to worry about his appearance but, judging from Yohan’s stare, he probably looked like shit. Good, he felt like that too.

“What happened?” The beta’s eyebrows dropped and he looked at Wooseok with a worried expression.

This was the exact reason he had locked his roommate out. “I don’t want to talk about it.” He curled up in a ball, trying to make himself as small as possible. “Just leave me alone.”

“Did you and your boyfriend get into a fight?”

The pang in his chest was harder than what he had been expecting. He missed Jinhyuk so much. He wanted to run to him and bury his head on the taller male’s chest. But he couldn’t… He couldn’t be the reason for Jinhyuk’s suffering.

“It’s none of your business.” Answered Wooseok in a loud voice. He hated having to treat his friend this way but it was the only way Yohan would leave the issue alone.

His response was met with silence. The omega closed his eyes tightly, wishing that Yohan would just leave so the beta wouldn’t have to see him crying. 

He heard the door closing and his tears escaped from his eyes again.

_______

“Any news?” 

Jinhyuk was currently in one of the company’s hallways. He had excused himself from the meeting to call Yein. They wouldn’t miss him anyway, he had been awfully distracted and kept making mistakes so at one point he simply shut up and just watched the rest do everything. Forcing him to come here had been a dumb idea and he hoped his mother realized that.

“He didn’t come to class… again.” Yein sighed from the other line. “And of course he is nowhere to be seen here in the library. He has ignored all my messages and calls as well.” 

The vampire had been utterly disappointed and frustrated when he woke up with no messages or calls from Wooseok. The idea that this had been a dumb joke was moving farther away and he was starting to get scared.

“Has he disappeared or something? Yein, I’m worried about him.” 

“I’m not sure… His alpha friend looked kind of confused over his absence as well so I guess asking him is out of the question. Fortunately.”

They were running out of options. Maybe the idea of entering the wolves dorm was not so bad after all. “Then I’ll go to his dorm.”

“Wow, wow, wow, don’t get carried away…” The line was silent for a few seconds. It appeared that Yein was also thinking of another way to contact Wooseok. “I’ll go.” He finally said.

“Are you sure? I thought you’re scared of wolves.”

“I’m not scared of them. I just don’t want to mingle.” the short vampire sighed. “But if it’s for Wooseok, then I’ll do it.”

Jinhyuk smiled. “He’s lucky to have a friend like you.”

“Yeah, yeah, leave the sappiness for later when you two get back together.” Jinhyuk felt kind of relieved hearing Yein saying that. If their friend believed in them, then Jinhyuk would have to as well. 

They said goodbye, Yein promised he would get back to him if he got any news and hung up.

When he turned around, Inna was standing right there in front of him and she looked annoyed.

“Why did you leave the meeting?” She asked, her arms crossed in front of her.

“I wasn’t doing anything anyways… I’m going home…” He tried to walk past her but she stopped him.

“If you step a foot outside before we finish, I’ll take back your apartment.” She turned around and faced his back. “I plan to present all three of you to the public with this project… So I warn you that I’ll keep you all busy for some time.”

“And if I refuse?” He greeted his teeth. Jinhyuk cursed himself for not saving and buying his own apartment. He pretended to be independent when in reality it was his mother who had given him a place to stay. And just like that, she could take that away from him as well.

“This is not an offering. I’m done with you acting this way.” He finally put herself in front of his son and her expression changed from annoyed to worried. “This is not like you, Jinhyuk… What’s going on?”

The vampire didn’t want to hear Inna playing it nicely with him when she would probably jump around in happiness when she discovered why he was feeling like shit. “Wooseok broke up with me. Are you happy? Is that what you wanted to hear?”

Inna looked dumbstruck after the revelation. Jinhyuk didn’t want to think about it but the possibility of his mother being the culprit behind Wooseok’s sudden change wouldn’t leave his mind. However, she seemed as surprised as he was after the news.

His mother didn’t say anything at first. “Did he say why?”

“No.” Honestly, his mother was the last person with whom he wanted to discuss his relationship with Wooseok.

The woman sighed and started making her way to the meeting room once again. “I’m sorry for having to keep you busy during this time.” Jinhyuk felt weird. He wasn’t expecting to hear her so concerned about him. “However… I still think this is for the best.”

Jinhyuk bit his lip so as to not respond to her. However, she seemed to not mind his answer because she kept walking.

________

To say he was uncomfortable would be the understatement of the year. It took him four days to finally gather up the courage to venture into the omegas dorms. He repeated again and again that he was doing this for his friends Wooseok and Jinhyuk so they better get back together and be grateful for what he was doing. 

“What is a bloodsucker doing here?”, “Who invited him?”, “He should go back to his coffin.”

_ ‘I can hear you.’  _ thought Yein. He put a hand on his mouth in fear he had said it aloud. The last thing he wanted was to make a scene. He was set on ignoring all the idiot werewolves looking at him judgingly. Good thing nobody had dared to stop him yet… Most of the residents were omegas, so without an alpha on sight, they wouldn’t think of causing trouble.

The vampire stood in front of the room with the big “1502” in the center. He checked on his phone to see if it was the right number, just to be sure. The curious eyes from the corridor never stopped following him and seemed to be murmuring among themselves, trying to figure out who were the residents of that room and why would a vampire pay them a visit. Yein really wanted them to go, the smell was already bad enough.

He decided he didn’t want to wait a second more so he knocked on the door firmly, awaiting his wolf’s friend response. Yein prayed that his roommate was not here or that, at least, the guy was as nice as Wooseok… Something good from Wooseok had to have rubbed off on the other, right?

A few seconds passed but there was no answer. Yein found it strange: He knew for a fact that Wooseok didn’t have classes at that time. He dialed the omega’s number but, like always lately, the only thing he could hear was the voicemail. 

The horrible smell of wolves was filling his nostrils and he was starting to get annoyed. He knocked on the door once again, this time with more force than before. “Wooseok? It’s me, Yein. I have the notes from class!”

Still, no answer. He was running out of options. The vampire couldn’t possibly camp outside the room in hopes Wooseok would return at some point. And that was only considering the omega was not already inside the room. It was possible that after breaking up with Jinhyuk, the omega had decided to break contact with Yein as well. 

He scratched his neck in annoyance. The vampire hadn’t wanted to jinx it at the time but he had weighed the possibilities of something like this happening. Vampires and wolves were very different after all. But still… the reasons that Wooseok had for breaking up with Jinhyuk remained a mystery. ‘If you’re gonna break my friend’s heart, at least be clear about it.’

The vampire was so mad that he couldn’t contain himself and kicked the door in anger. “Wooseok, answer me!... or at least answer Jinhyuk, dammit!”

Silence. 

There really wasn’t much more he could do. He left the notes on the floor and turned around to leave but he was met with an unfamiliar boy who was looking at him with a surprised expression.

“Do you… know Wooseok?” The raven-haired boy seemed lost in thought. Yein was thinking of ways to escape but the odds weren’t in his favor. The corridor was full of people and the exit was still far away. He looked everywhere until their eyes settled on the boy’s hand which was holding the keys of the room. He had to be Wooseok’s roommate.

“N-no… We just take Music Theory together and I wanted to bring him the no-”

He was interrupted when the stranger’s hand clutched his arm. “Come with me.” The boy in question proceeded to pull him with him towards the exit. This wasn’t what Yein had planned. Was he going to beat him up? Was he leading him to some alphas who would beat him up? 

They walked for a while, the guy was still grabbing Yein by the arm until he finally stopped at a bench near the basketball field. “Do you like chips?”

The vampire was so confused that he only nodded without thinking. The other boy smiled and handed him a bag of chips that he took from his backpack. 

Why did Yein accept? He didn’t know, maybe he was feeling dumb that day. Never in his life had he imagined he would be having an evening snack with some random werewolf. He had been too confused and intimidated to tell the boy that “hey, you know, vampires actually drink blood! crazy, right?” and in all honesty, the werewolf looked like an airhead so of course he wouldn’t get a clue either.

He was pondering on whether to eat the stuff on his hands when the raven-haired boy started talking. “Sorry to bring you here out of the blue, it’s just that I’m worried about Wooseok. Oh, by the way! I should introduce myself first, right? My name is Kim Yohan, I’m Wooseok’s roommate. I was not aware that Wooseok had a vampire friend here…” It didn’t seem like the boy would stop talking at any moment but before he could stop the other’s rant, a new voice joined in.

“Yohan? What are you doing over here at this time?” Yein held his breath. The smell of this one was even stronger than the wolf sitting next to him on the bench.

“Oh, hi Seungwoo! Want some chips?” The other wolf ignored the airhead’s question and looked at Yein with an intrigued expression. 

“And you are?” The question was directed to Yein

But apparently this guy Yohan was deciding on not to let him speak a word that evening. 

“This guy came to visit Wooseok today.”

Seungwoo’s eyes widened at this statement. “Did he open the door?”

Yohan shook his head with a sad face and Seungwoo sighed. He then proceeded to sit on the grass in front of them. His eyes kept studying Yein and the vampire felt slightly threatened.

“You’re a vampire.” 

_ ‘Well, duh’ _ **** Yein had wanted to say but he was not an idiot. Two of his natural enemies were too close for comfort. It would not be a wise move to make them angry.

Since Yein was not answering, Seungwoo decided to continue. “Do you know what happened to Wooseok?”

The vampire was not sure about what to say. The only thing he knew was that Wooseok had broken up with Jinhyuk but the reasons behind it and Wooseok’s current state were still a mystery for him. “How is he?” In spite of everything, he was still worried about his friend.

Seungwoo looked at Yohan as a sign for the other to explain. “I’m afraid he’s not well. He doesn’t go out of the room, he barely eats, he refuses to go to class, he’s crying all the time…” Yohan appeared distressed about all this and now Yein was too. Why was Wooseok suffering so much? Why did he break up with Jinhyuk if he was going to become like this? “You know about Jinhyuk, right? I heard you mention him.”

Yein cursed his luck. There was really no way out of this. He always thought that it was Wooseok’s place to reveal his relationship with a vampire to his friends but at the same time, he could understand their worries. After all, he was the same. The issue seemed to be more complicated than he had initially thought.

The werewolf called Seungwoo spoke before Yein could answer. “I’ve been suspecting this for a while now… Maybe you can give me a straight answer.” Yein knew what was coming. “Is Wooseok dating a vampire?” 

Yohan gasped and his gaze moved from Seungwoo to Yein and vice versa. 

There was no point in lying now. Yein had wondered if none of Wooseok friend’s had questioned him about his mark which curiously looked like a vampire bite. He had concluded they were kind of oblivious but this one, Seungwoo, seemed to have connected the dots.

The small vampire nodded and pondered if it would be wise to share what he knew with these people. They looked as lost as him so it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Maybe they could work this thing out together. At first, he believed that this was a matter that Jinhyuk and Wooseok should resolve on their own but seeing how Wooseok refused to talk with anyone and Jinhyuk was being kept busy by his family, the probabilities of them seeing or even talking to each other were really low.

“W-wait… So… Jinhyuk… was a vampire all along?” Yohan had not closed his mouth since he heard the big revelation. “That explains a lot of things…”

“Do you know Jinhyuk personally?” Seungwoo continued with the interrogation. Yein was still wary of the alpha in front of him but he decided to comply. If Wooseok was friends with them, Yein supposed it was because they were good people or at least he hoped so.

“Yes, he is my friend.” The vampire then explained how he and Wooseok had become friends and how the omega had met Jinhyuk through Yein. Seungwoo looked interested and would drop a little smile here and there while Yohan just sat there with his mouth and eyes still wide open. “Last time I saw Jinhyuk, he told me Wooseok had broken up with him over text and then blocked him.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Yohan finally chimed in. “Wooseok has been nothing but miserable these past days! Why would he even break up with his boyfriend?”

The vampire shook his head, frustration clear on his face. “That’s what I don’t understand. It was too sudden… They were fine a few days ago.” He directed his attention to the two wolves accompanying him. “Did you notice anything strange about Wooseok?”

Seungwoo shook his head while Yohan started recalling the last events. “He ditched classes last Monday to go to his boyfriend’s and when he came back nothing seemed wrong.” The beta put a hand on his chin, trying to think of anything else. “Then… On Wednesday I left for class in the morning but when I came back, I noticed I had forgotten my keys. I knocked and called Wooseok but he never answered and when I came back the next day he looked as if he had been crying the whole night.”

“So something must have happened on Wednesday.” Seungwoo deducted and everyone agreed. However, it was hard to guess what could have happened. Yein explained to them that Jinhyuk was also surprised by Wooseok’s sudden message because it all had been fine on Monday. 

“I just remember that Wooseok ditched Music Theory class that day,” added Yein. “I can try talking with him if you let me… He’s been ignoring my calls lately.”

“All of ours,” said Seungwoo with a sad expression.

Yohan nodded. “I don’t think he has turned on his phone since last Wednesday… And even if I’m there he just ignores me. He only talks to me to say ‘go away’ or ‘leave me alone’.” 

“Hey, you know you can crash at my dorm any time.” answered a worried Seungwoo. 

The raven-haired boy just shook his head, a defeated smile appearing on his face. “I rather stay with him and make sure he’s okay… He hasn’t been eating well.”

“Let’s just try to keep an eye on him for the time being…” suggested the alpha right before he took out what looked like a cellphone from his pocket. He then proceeded to hand it over to Yein. “And for that, we’ll need to keep in touch. I know you must be worried about Wooseok as well.” Seungwoo smiled reassuringly and Yein felt a little less threatened.

The idea of giving his contact information to another wolf was not really appealing to him but they seemed to be nice people and it would be good to know about Wooseok’s condition. He didn’t know the omega was so devastated… In all honesty, Yein was mad at Wooseok for all this situation but now he was extremely worried. There was something really strange going on.

He gave Seungwoo and Yohan his number and the latter promised to keep them updated about Wooseok’s situation. They also promised to try and think of any theory about what might have happened with their friend.

The vampire finally said goodbye and started heading towards the exit. The chat was nice and everything but he was thankful for the breath of fresh air. They really stank.

On the other hand, the other two wolves were also packing their things in order to go back to their respective dorms. 

Yohan looked at the untouched bag of chips on the bench with dropped eyebrows. “He didn’t even touch his chips.”

Seungwoo couldn’t hold the laugh that escaped from his lips and Yohan looked at him in confusion. “You do know vampires only drink blood, right?”

He wanted the earth to swallow him.

__________

It was hard to tell how many days or weeks had passed since he broke up with Jinhyuk. In any case, time was of little interest to him because he knew that his pain wouldn't go away no matter how many days went by. 

Sometimes he liked to dream that Jinhyuk barged in and took him away, that he forgave him for everything and they lived happily together. Those dreams made the hurting fade away for a little time; the only problem was that the pain just intensified the morning after when he realized it had been nothing but a dream.

Yohan never left his side and Wooseok didn’t know whether to feel grateful or annoyed. He felt bad for the beta. He should be out there having fun and enjoying his day, not chained up to an emotionally unstable omega. Wooseok also preferred to be alone and drown in his own misery. 

The beta had tried to convince him to go outside but Wooseok was afraid. He was scared to meet his fated mate. That would make him feel like a complete piece of shit. He refused to be like his mother. The omega would rather let the pain consume him completely.

Wooseok was hungry but he simply couldn’t stomach the food. He felt sick and threw up all the time. He felt tired and forced himself to sleep all day. It was either sleeping or crying or both, that had been his routine through these last days or weeks, he didn’t remember.

Strangely, that day, in particular, he was feeling extremely hungry. Such was his hunger that when Yohan left the room, he crawled towards the bags of food he had left in case Wooseok wanted to eat. He knew that he would feel as hell later but right now, he only wanted to fill his empty stomach. He stuffed his cheeks with whatever he could find: chips, fruit, cookies, anything. 

The omega stopped when he felt his temperature suddenly rising. 

Fuck.

He had forgotten to keep track of his heat. It was happening right now and the worst part was that he didn’t have his mate to help him through it.

It had been almost a year since he last spent a heat alone. Without noticing, tears started forming in his eyes once more. He felt his stomach twisting and the heat consuming him.

He looked at the cabinet where he had locked his phone and tried to open it, only to remember that he had thrown away the key so that he wouldn’t falter and call Jinhyuk.

In an act of desperation, he started searching the room for a trace of Jinhyuk. Maybe he had unintentionally taken a piece of clothing or something from the vampire. The number of tears increased as he failed to find anything. He remembered that Jinhyuk had gifted him a hoodie for his birthday so he crawled towards his closet and threw every piece of clothing on the floor until he was able to find the hoody. 

Once he had it on his hands, he proceeded to sniff it in a desperate search for his mate’s scent… Nothing.

He threw the hoodie in annoyance. He shouldn’t need Jinhyuk, they weren’t together anymore. He curled up in a ball and kept crying, whimpering and calling his mate’s name. 

Oh, how he wished his dreams could become a reality right at that instant.

___________

Jinhyuk wondered what was the point of giving him the waiting room with the biggest mirror when he didn’t have a reflection anyways. It felt as if the mirror was mocking him, reminding him of the fact that he was not a normal boy and could never be. 

The promotional pictures of the camera had gone out already and became a huge success. Sales were doing good and he and his family had been working nonstop the last few days. They had to attend important meetings and parties, interviews for magazines, and more photoshoots. To say Jinhyuk was exhausted would be an understatement.

He felt more tired than he normally would and the situation with Wooseok was not helping his health. No matter where he went, how many interviews or photo shoots he had, he always kept his phone close to him, just in case the omega would contact him. Unfortunately, that had never happened. Still, he couldn’t help but stare at his phone wallpaper, a picture of Wooseok trying to cover his face. He remembered that day vividly. Jinhyuk had ordered a set of chicken feet for the werewolf and the smaller male hadn’t noticed the sauce stain on his mouth. The vampire had found it adorable and had tried to take a picture of his boyfriend but Wooseok had resisted. 

The memory pained him to no end. What exactly had gone wrong? Had he done something? Or maybe his mother was right and they were too different… But that had never stopped them before. They had never spoken about it out loud… Maybe they should have. 

He took one last look at the phone, hopelessly waiting for a call that would never come. He sighed loudly and dropped on the sofa behind him. There was a mini-fridge next to him but he didn’t feel like drinking. He couldn’t even remember the last time he had fed himself.

Yein had commented on his visible fatigue, saying that he should go to sleep to regain energy but Jinhyuk was so scared to wake up to an even worse situation. He refused to sleep until he could hear or see Wooseok again.

Someone knocked on his door, making him get out of his trance. He got up slowly and opened the door. An intern was there to communicate that he should be ready in fifteen minutes. He just nodded and closed the door before the woman could tell her anything else. He was not in the mood for talking and now he would have to do exactly that in front of a lot of journalists in a press conference. Jinhyuk just had to hope that his mother and his sister did most of the talking.

The vampire took his coat from the hanger and was putting it on when his phone rang. He threw himself towards the counter and answered on the first dial. Jinhyuk tried his best not to imagine Wooseok’s voice on the other side of the line but it was hard when Wooseok was the only thing he thought about at every hour.

He was met with Yein’s voice instead. “Jinhyuk, where are you?” He seemed agitated. Jinhyuk was starting to get worried. Last time they had spoken, Yein had told him about his weird meeting with Yohan and Seungwoo. The vampire had been glad that there were so many people looking out for Wooseok. He had wanted to run to his mate so many times but apart from threatening him with leaving him homeless, his mother had also done the best to keep them all busy so they wouldn’t have time to even breathe.

“I’m at a hotel, waiting for the press conference to start.” Right at that moment, he heard another knock on his door and someone shouting from the outside. The conference would start in five minutes. “Look, I have to go,” he started making his way to the door until Yein dropped the news.

“Wooseok is in heat.”

Jinhyuk stopped dead in his tracks.

“Yohan just told me. He said…” his vampire friend sounded wary as if he was not sure whether to share the rest. “He said Wooseok made a mess in the room and… he keeps calling your name and scratching the door.”

The vampire’s jaw tensed at the information. He bolted out of the room and towards the exit. Who cared about a damn press conference when his mate needed him. Jinhyuk knew his mother would be furious but he couldn’t care less… He needed to reach Wooseok.

____________

“Jinhyuk, please… please come…” 

Wooseok moans and pleads could be heard from outside of the room. Yohan glanced towards the vampire who was sitting next to him on the floor, only to see that his cheeks were slightly red. The beta held in a laugh.

“Is it always like that?” he dared to ask. The werewolf noticed how the vampire scrunched his nose. The smell was surely ten times as bad right now.

Yohan crossed his arms and nodded. “I can’t imagine how hard this must be for omegas.” The beta felt bad that there was nothing he could do in this situation. He had helped Wooseok go through his heats in the past (mainly with some handjobs and toys, he would never dare to go further than that) but things were different now… Vampire or not, Wooseok had a mate and no one would ever think about getting close to the omega if he had a mate.

“Don’t you love me anymore? Why don’t you come, Jinhyuk?” The omega’s voice sounded weak and tired. Even though he was moaning and whimpering, it felt as if he was in pain, rather than receiving pleasure. Betas would never understand how hard heats were and the pain of not having your alpha next to you when you more needed them.

Suddenly, the vampire’s cell phone started ringing. Yein seemed nervous all of a sudden. He got up from the floor and answered. “Yes?” Silence. “WHAT?” Silence. “What do you mean you’re here? Didn’t you have a press conference?” Silence. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Yohan arched a brow while looking at the other male. The vampire simply hung up and scratched his head nervously. “So… Jinhyuk is here.”

“What did you just say?” said Yohan, opening his mouth in surprise. “Why? Did he know? Wooseok’s pleas reached him?”

“I… may have had something to do with that.” 

“You told him?” Yohan stood up on a whim after that.

“I didn’t think he would come! I just felt that he needed to know…” The vampire explained frantically. “But this is good, right? They can finally meet each other”

Yohan facepalmed and stared at Yein right afterward. “We cannot let him enter.”

“What? Why?” Yein’s face only showed confusion.

“Wooseok is not in his right mind right now… This could end up in a complete disaster if we aren’t careful.” The raven-haired boy took Yein by his shoulders. “Wooseok is weak now and no one can take advantage of that… not even his mate, not even us.”

The small vampire seemed taken aback but nodded anyway. “I should at least greet him and tell him ab-”

“HEY! WAIT UP!” From the far end of the hall, a shout could be heard. When both of them turned around to see what the commotion was all about, Yohan’s nose was suddenly attacked with the smell of a fire… He couldn’t help but think that it was kind of familiar.

Right in front of them, a tall man was running towards them while he was being followed by a very angry security guard. Yohan heard Yein sigh… Then he understood. This person right here was Jinhyuk.

Yohan made his way to the pair and calmly explained to the guard that Jinhyuk was a new exchange student and didn’t understand much of the language and that he was looking for Yein because he was his appointed guide. The guard simply threw a few warning words towards Jinhyuk and made his way to the exit.

The beta sighed with relief and turned to meet the mysterious lover. The first thing he noticed when he looked at the tall man was that he and Wooseok would definitely look good together. The second thing he noticed was that this guy didn’t seem to be in his best shape. He seemed well dressed but he looked weak and even paler than Yein.

“Thank you… Where’s Wooseok?” Yohan felt a little outnumbered now. He was a beta with two vampires in front of him. He started to understand why Yein had been so weary during their first meeting.

He didn’t expect his first meeting with Wooseok’s boyfriend to go like this but so many weird things had been happening lately that he was in no position to complain.

“He’s inside the room.” Jinhyuk made a motion to grab the knob but Yohan stood in his way. “But I’m afraid I can not let you in.”

The beta almost faltered when Jinhyuk showed his fangs to him in a threatening manner. Good thing Yein was there to grab him by the arm and keep him somewhat tamed.

“Stop, Jinhyuk… Yohan’s right!”

Before anyone could say anything, a weak voice made its way through the door.

“Jinhyuk? Jinhyuk is that you? I can smell you… please come to me… please…” It was Wooseok… He had felt Jinhyuk’s presence and was now scratching the door and whimpering uncontrollably. 

“He needs me. Let me through.” Jinhyuk’s tone became harder and Yohan saw his jaw tensing.

“If you ever stood by Wooseok’s side during his heat, you must know that he’s not fully conscious. His instincts are speaking for him.” Jinhyuk’s hard eyes were intimidating Yohan but he couldn't let his friend down. He had the feeling that if he let the vampire through, Wooseok would never forgive him. “Please… Just wait… I promise you’ll reunite soon.”

“When will that be?” Jinhyuk’s voice became louder. “I haven’t seen him or heard his voice in weeks. He doesn’t want me near. This could be the only chance I have!”

“And then what, Jinhyuk?” Yein finally spoke. “You’ll both wake up after his heat and he’ll push you away again? A fuck is not going to get you back together and you know that.”

The vampire hung his head low. He seemed to be pondering his options… but there was a distraction.

More whimpers and moans could be heard from the inside of the room. “Why aren’t you coming? Don’t you love me anymore?”

Jinhyuk fell to his knees and put a hand on the door. This time Yohan didn’t stop him… He trusted that the vampire had understood his point.

“That’s impossible… I love you more than anything in the world. And I promise… I’ll come to you. I won’t hesitate anymore.” When the vampire finally got up, Yohan could see how the other’s eyes were damped with a red liquid. Was he crying?

Yein patted Jinhyuk’s back and made circling motions trying to calm him down. Yohan felt terrible but he knew he had done the right thing… or at least he hoped so. He was suddenly struck with an idea.

“Next week, the university will hold a festival and Wooseok is supposed to perform there… Why don’t you come and see him? Maybe you can talk to him there.”

The tall vampire smiled weakly. “Yeah… He had invited me but, after all this, I wasn’t planning on going. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable in front of his classmates.”

“Nonsense. Can’t you hear him crying for you? It’s true that he’s not in his right mind but, as far as I know, heats don’t make omegas lie.” Yohan winked, trying to lighten up the mood a little.

Jinhyuk nodded and thanked the beta. He then took off his jacket and handed it over to Yohan. “Give this to Wooseok… It’s not much but maybe it can help him.”

Yohan took the coat and nodded with a smile. “I’ll be sure to pass it on to him.”

Yein pulled Jinhyuk by the arm. “Let’s go…” Jinhyuk seemed torn. Wooseok’s voice could still be heard from the other side and he was crying and mewling but Jinhyuk knew better than to push the issue so, with a heavy heart, he turned around and left.

___________

No. No. No. The scent was going away. Why was Jinhyuk leaving him? He had said he loved him… Then why… 

Wooseok’s fingers went deeper inside of his entrance but it wasn’t enough. He needed Jinhyuk. He needed his mate.

His air got caught on his throat when he saw the doorknob moving but all his hopes died when he saw Yohan entering the room.

He curled up on his spot on the floor and kept crying… until he smelled a familiar scent. The scent he had missed so much. He looked up and watched as Yohan handed him a jacket. The omega tore the piece of clothing away from the beta and sank his nose on it. It wasn’t Jinhyuk but he felt slightly calmer… maybe his mate did love him after all. 


	5. I'd choose your love (again, again, again)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this! I'm sorry for being MIA ;; but work became harder these last few months so I haven't been really active with my writing.  
> We have finally reached the last chapter :'D I can't believe it. This story is always going to have a special place in my heart since it's the first I officially finished.  
> Thanks to my squad for all the support ;; ♥ They're the best team!  
> Enjoy!

The little woman was pacing back and forth in her living room. Several days had passed since her son had visited her and she hadn’t heard anything from him since. Yoojung had tried to call him several times but to no avail, he didn't answer, not even once. She wondered if the boy would still be mad at her. Although she didn’t understand what she had done wrong, something was bothering her.

It was still hard for her to understand why she was going through the white pages website, looking for every vampire named Park Woojin she could find. 

Turns out there weren't that many Park Woojins; only three appeared on the website, which made Yoojung's work easier.

She looked around and made sure to close the door before making the first call. Doyeon was currently preparing dinner so she wouldn't go into the room for a while. 

Yoojung felt bad for hiding this piece of information from her alpha but she was scared that Doyeon would look at her differently if she knew her omega had had a fling with a vampire. 

The omega took a deep breath and dialed the number of the first Park Woojin. A high pitched voice met her on the other side of the line and, without giving it a second thought, she hung up. The Park Woojin she remembered had a totally different tone. There was no way this was him.

She was not sure about this anymore. What was she trying to accomplish? What would she say? Despite all this, she still couldn't shake her son's words from her mind _. "What about Woojin? Did you ever think about how he felt after that? Did you ever check up on him?” _

Maybe she had been unfair with Woojin. She had cut all contact with him after having found Doyeon. How has he been during all these years? Maybe Wooseok was right after all…

Yoojung dialed the second number and waited. She was about to hang up after the fifth tone until she heard a deep and slightly familiar voice.

"Hello?" 

The omega tried to summon the little bit of courage she had left and finally spoke.

"Is this Park Woojin?"

"Yeah, that's me. Who is this?" Again the deep voice answered. Yoojung became more convinced with every word.

"I don't know if you remember me… I'm… Choi Yoojung…"

The other side of the line was silent after that. The omega wondered if she should end the call, maybe this hadn't been a great idea. She was scared he would curse at her. 

"Hey… It's been a while." There was no nastiness coming from his voice, only a faint sign of amusement. 

_____________________________

Jinhyuk threw himself on the bed as soon as he arrived home from his photography class. 

His tutor had commented that Jinhyuk didn't look good and sent him home to rest but Jinhyuk knew it was no use. 

He needed something to distract himself, being home only made it worse. He hadn't fed for weeks and his body complained about it in every way possible. He had even fallen into a week-long slumber on Yein's insistence but that hadn't helped either, he still felt tired.

He suddenly remembered that Wooseok’s concert was the next day but was it a good idea to attend? Jinhyuk was starting to have doubts about their relationship. Did Wooseok want him there? Why had it been so easy for Wooseok to leave him? Had it all been a lie? Had Jinhyuk only been a phase for the werewolf? 

The vampire had pushed all those thoughts away for a long time but they decided to return with full force. He covered his eyes with his arms and fought his tears away… Was he going to keep living like that? Jinhyuk was sure that no matter how long he lived, he would never be able to get over Wooseok. The omega had turned his world upside down and the vampire couldn’t picture a life without him. He had been thinking for a while that Wooseok would be his last… so, what was the point of a life without him?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his phone ringing. He remembered the device had fallen from his night table after he dropped himself on the bed. Fishing for it was going to be a pain but he had no choice… After the stunt he had pulled at the press conference, his mother wouldn’t stop bothering him.

The vampire moved his arm towards the space between his night table and the bed. While he was searching for the object, his hand came across a little box. Weird. He didn’t remember putting anything there or under his bed. Carefully, he tried to lift the foreign object until he had a clear view of what it could be. It was a black box with a white ribbon but it didn’t ring any bell.

He forgot about his cell phone which had already stopped ringing and focused his attention on the box in front of him. He opened it quickly and what he found inside almost made him fall out of the bed. Inside the box, there was a transparent jar which was almost filled to the brim with paper stars. The jar also had a label on it that read “Reasons I love you.”

Jinhyuk almost dropped the jar after reading that. How could have he forgotten? This was the anniversary gift Wooseok had hidden. A lot of things had happened right after that so he hadn’t had time to look for it again.

He traced Wooseok’s handwriting with his finger and he couldn’t help but think of his omega folding the papers into stars and putting all his effort into making this for him. 

Carefully, Jinhyuk opened the jar and took out one light blue star to see it better. Something was scribbled on them. His chest tightened, it was a mix of pain and happiness. How could love be so cruel but feel so good at the same time? He unfolded the star and read the message inside.

“You make me smile for no reason.”

And just as if he had read some kind of magic spell, a smile crept up his face. 

He opened another star.

“You are silly.” He laughed a little with this one.

The vampire became eager to know what other messages were hidden inside each star, so he started opening each one of the folded stars until his bed was covered with little colored papers.

“You will always protect me.”  _ I will. _

“You see the best in me.”  _ Because you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. _

“You have an amazing smile.”  _ All because of you. _

“You are honest with me.”  _ I would never lie to you. _

“You care about me.”  _ More than anything. _

“You think I’m beautiful.”  _ You are. _

“You give the best hugs.”  _ Not as nice as the ones you give me. _

His tears increased with each message. There were funny and witty messages, but also deep and serious ones. It was a rollercoaster of emotions for Jinhyuk.

And the moment he read the last message, he knew exactly what to do. There was no doubt in his heart anymore. They would get through this. Together. 

“You want to be with me for me.”  _ It doesn’t matter if we’re from different species if our families or upbringings differ. I’ll always choose you. _

________________________________

In other circumstances, Wooseok would be beyond excited for this concert. But right now, he just wanted to keep drowning in his misery and not attend. 

Yohan had insisted on how important it was that he participated. His song had been directly chosen among many other entries and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

His mothers would be there and also all of his friends but he felt torn.

Jinhyuk had also promised he would be there… but of course, that had been before he had broken up with him. Would the vampire still be there? He glanced at the chair where the taller man’s jacket was. After the omega’s heat ended, he was astonished to find that Jinhyuk’s presence had not been a fragment of his imagination. The vampire had come to see him…

Wooseok didn’t know what to make of that information.

A part of him was so overjoyed that he slept every night hugging that specific piece of clothing. However, another part of him was wary. Jinhyuk was supposed to get over him and move on but was he as destroyed as Wooseok felt? 

He didn’t want that… But he was also scared of hurting Jinhyuk more if he were to find his fated mate. He was terrified to go to the concert and meet that damn mate there. 

What then? Would he live his entire life locked in? Was all this pain and misery worth it?

The omega looked at the music sheets in front of him. This song was so personal that he wasn’t sure if he wanted to disclose it anymore. After all, the person he had made this song for was probably not going to be there. However, he still wished that it would reach Jinhyuk one way or another.

He determined that he would give a memorable performance and lay himself bare. He wouldn’t hide anymore… and that would be the last everyone would see of him.

______________________________

Yein was biting his nails. Days have passed incredibly fast and suddenly it was festival day already. 

Yohan had assured him that Wooseok was indeed performing and he had passed that information to his good friend Jinhyuk, who was currently on his way to the auditorium. 

Since it was an open festival, people from outside the university were invited to participate in the activities all the departments had prepared. Yein, of course, had already secured Jinhyuk’s ticket so that the other wouldn’t have any problems getting in.

The concert had already started and currently, the dance department was performing. After that, it would be the turn of the music department and, according to the schedule, Wooseok would be performing first. Jinhyuk better get here fast, thought Yein.

And just as if he had summoned the taller male, Jinhyuk slid on the chair next to him and greeted Yein with a small smile. “Right on time.”

The shorter vampire slapped his hand in annoyance. “Don’t try me.” He took one look towards the stage and then came back to Jinhyuk. It was clear to see that the vampire was nervous. His legs wouldn’t stop shaking and he was biting his lips. Yein sighed and patted his friend’s knee. 

“Everything is going to be alright. I’ve seen you interact with each other and you are clearly in love. Anyone who can’t see that is just blind.”

Jinhyuk didn’t say anything but Yein could see how a smile appeared on his face. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it but despite his paleness and his clear lack of energy, Jinhyuk seemed different… He looked hopeful.

Before they knew it, the dancers had cleared the stage and a student from the music department was introducing the next act. Kim Wooseok. Singing an original composition.

Yein could see how Jinhyuk tensed next to him but what was also evident was the way his eyes sparkled the moment the omega appeared from the side of the stage.

_____________________________

The lights almost blinded him the moment he stood on the stage. The audience was hard to see because of that and he was partially grateful to whoever was in charge of the lights that day. Wooseok was already nervous and watching people's reaction to his performance would only make it worse. He also didn't want to see his friends' reaction to his current state.

Yohan had done his best to make him look presentable and to cover his puffy eyes and hollowed cheeks but they both knew he was no makeup expert and Wooseok had refused to let anyone else inside.

The beta had told him that Yein could come to help if they needed it. Wooseok was still surprised that both his friends had met each other and were on talking terms. He wanted to talk to Yein about it because he knew the vampire wasn't comfortable among wolves but he suppressed the urge.

Yein was one of his closest links to Jinhyuk so he had already decided to cut ties with him. The vampire would surely be mad and disappointed at him… and Wooseok couldn't blame him, he was mad at himself as well. That's why it broke his heart every time Yohan told him Yein was asking about him or when the beta came to the room with a bag of treats and said: "from Yein." 

He was the worst.

The omega took a deep breath and centered his sight towards the front. He could make out some faces on the first row, mainly his friends'. Seungyoun was giving him two thumbs up while Hangyul and Yohan were clapping energetically. Seungwoo smiled and nodded at him. 

Wooseok felt bad once again. He had also neglected his friends this last month. He ignored their calls and their visits. Did he deserve to have such wonderful people around him when he was such a selfish person?

However, he didn't have much time to ponder about it because the instrumental of his song started playing.

The peaceful piano introduction filled the room and Wooseok could feel himself shaking already. He closed his hands tightly around the microphone, maybe that way he wouldn't be so afraid of dropping it accidentally. 

And just like that, he started singing. Despite his nervousness, he was set on the idea of delivering a good performance. He had been working on that song for many months already and it held a special place inside his heart. Its name was 'The Winter' and he had started working on it the night of his first kiss with Jinhyuk. The first line he had written had been “a warm winter with you" and the rest just flowed easily out of his mind into the paper.

_ The season that's full of you _ .

Since that specific day, winter had become his favorite season. A not so special season in which he used to only curl up in bed and complain about his runny nose had become so very special after just one night, and it had all been because of Jinhyuk. The cold hands that often embraced him had a warmness in them that only Wooseok could feel. Oh, how he missed that now. He didn’t mind the coldness, the smell, the fangs, all those small differences... because all of that made Jinhyuk who he was and he loved him just like that.

It was getting hard to finish the song with the lump that had formed in his throat. He blinked several times in an attempt to make the unshed tears go away. But it was hard to sing the song you had composed for the one you loved the most when you were all alone. Despite knowing that he didn’t deserve anything, he still hoped that his music reached the vampire in one way or another. Wooseok hoped Jinhyuk could experience happiness once again… Unlike him, who was sure that he would never be happy again.

The climax of the song was drawing near and Wooseok wasn’t sure he could pull it off. His mind was filled with thoughts of his boyfriend and the efforts to contain his tears were futile at this point. How ironic was that the most challenging line was “I won’t let go.” He did. He let go and he felt terrible for that.

After the high note, there was silence… He couldn’t go on. The omega was practically sobbing at that point. He just wanted to see Jinhyuk, he wanted to hear his voice, to hug him, to kiss him, to be with him. Maybe he should have fought harder for the both of them. But that only showed that the vampire deserved someone stronger than him. 

He was lost in his feelings when he heard his name being called by a painfully familiar voice. The surprise was evident in his face the moment his eyes met the man who had inspired the song. Jinhyuk was right there, in front of him, looking at him from down the stage. Was it an illusion? Had Wooseok gone insane already? It was pretty possible. And it wouldn’t be the first time he had imagined the older boy, but something was off. The Jinhyuk from his dreams always looked radiant, he was always smiling but this boy in front of him was just a shadow of that man. He looked hollowed, drained, tired. He looked exactly like Wooseok. 

The omega stood paralyzed there for a few seconds until Jinhyuk started making his way to the stairs leading to the stage. Wooseok was debating whether to run towards him or follow what he had been doing until then and just run away. 

His breath became more erratic with each step the other boy took. He heard faint noises in the distance and saw movement from the audience but he didn’t care about any of that. Jinhyuk was there. Jinhyuk had come to see him. 

But that wasn’t good. Wooseok would only hurt him. Wooseok wasn’t good for someone as extraordinary as Jinhyuk. So he ran. He ran backstage and locked himself inside his dressing room.

Not even a minute had passed when he heard someone banging on his door. The smell of fire filled his nostrils and threatened to burn every part of Wooseok. It was Jinhyuk.

“Wooseok, please… We need to talk,” Jinhyuk said in a desperate voice while he kept knocking on the door. The omega didn’t want to hear it. He was sure that no matter what the vampire said, he would go back running to him. In a futile attempt to drain all sounds, he covered his ears and sank on the floor. 

Jinhyuk’s voice became needier with each sentence and it broke Wooseok’s heart into a million pieces. He wanted to scream to further drain the noise. 

“I opened the jar with the folded stars.” After Wooseok heard those words, there was no way he could ignore whatever was happening outside his door. His familiar tears appeared once again while he imagined his boyfriend opening the surprise he had prepared… And then he remembered that today was supposed to be their eleventh month anniversary. 

He turned around quickly and put one hand on the doorknob while the other was on his mouth, trying in vain to muffle the sound of his crying. His will was crumbling right before his eyes but he was tired of putting up a wall, of looking every night for someone who wouldn’t be there. He was about to open the door when another voice came from outside the door.

“I don’t know who you are but you should stop bothering my friend if you don’t want trouble.” That was Seungyoun's voice and he didn’t appear to be alone. Wooseok could hear a group of footsteps getting closer.

“Seungyoun, wait!” From the other side of the room, the omega could recognize Seungwoo’s voice. “I need you to calm down and listen to me.”

“Calm down? I’m gonna make this guy regret bothering Wooseok.” After that, he heard a punch being thrown and a couple of gasps. Without even thinking, he opened the door and witnessed the scene unfolding in front of him. Seungwoo, Yohan, Hangyul, and Yein were curled up together on the side while Seungyoun had his back facing the door and there, on the floor, was the person he wanted to see the most but also the one he knew should stop seeing forever. 

All the people standing there had something in common, they were all currently staring at Wooseok. But the omega only had eyes for the person whose cheek was red and swollen and who, in turn, was looking directly at him. It reminded him of the first time they had laid eyes on each other, of that same strange force that had pulled them together.

Nobody spoke for some time. It looked as if they were all scared of ruining the moment. All except for one clueless alpha. 

"Who the hell are you?" He seemed to at least have gotten some kind of hint with the way Jinhyuk and Wooseok were looking at each other.

Wooseok heard Hangyul sighing. "Seungyoun… even I recognize the smell of the guy." After that, he pointed at Jinhyuk. "That's clearly Wooseok's stinky boyfriend." Both Wooseok and Jinhyuk flinched at the word “boyfriend” but no one made a move or said anything to deny Hangyul’s claims. 

While all his friends were discussing their relationship and Wooseok’s sudden disappearance, the omega and the vampire’s gazes finally met and the wolf’s blood turned ice cold only to be melted afterward by the warmness that sprouted from his chest. He had cried so much that there were no more tears left inside of him, otherwise, he would have surely collapsed right then and there.

Maybe it was finally time to talk… or he could run away one more time and finally put an end to all this. Yes, that’s exactly what he was supposed to do… if only his legs responded to him. He was a wobbly mess but how could he not be when Jinhyuk was looking at him with those cold eyes?

Slowly, the vampire got up from the floor and made his way towards the omega. Wooseok was afraid, Jinhyuk was surely mad at him and would certainly scream and demand explanations from him. What was he supposed to say? He had promised Inna not to say anything about Minsoo and he didn’t want to hurt the vampire more than what he had already hurt him.

Wooseok took a deep breath and braced himself for a scolding but his eyes opened in surprise when the vampire’s cold body engulfed him in a tight embrace. The tears he swore he had run out of were now mercilessly filling his eyes once again. He remembered the coldness of that chest and the coziness of that embrace. Without even thinking about it, he closed his eyes and lost himself in the arms of the person he loved. Wooseok wondered if Jinhyuk could also feel the warmness that emanated from their bond mark.

None of the two said anything, they just stood there in silence, breathing each other scents. Wooseok noticed that, at some point, their friends had left. He guessed it was probably Yohan and Yein’s doing and wasn’t sure if he should thank or curse at them. Or maybe it had been the crazy mix of their scents that had driven his friends away. Fire meeting gasoline one more time, both of them creating an explosion one more time.

Suddenly, Jinhyuk separated from him, but not entirely. He guided his cold hands towards Wooseok’s cheeks and lifted his head so that both their eyes met. The omega’s breath hitched when he noticed Jinhyuk’s red tears damping his face. 

_ No. You were supposed to be happy. _

Before Wooseok’s mouth betrayed him, the vampire finally spoke.

“Come to the photography contest... '' In a rush, Jinhyuk took out two tickets from his pocket and placed them in Wooseok’s hand. “I still don’t know why you are avoiding me or what happened but…” He gulped. “I’m not asking you to take me back, but please come…”

Before Wooseok could say anything, the vampire turned around and left but not before whispering a faint. “Happy month anniversary”.

The only thing the wolf could do after that was hugging the tickets close to his chest and crying his heart out.

_________________________

And just like that, three days rapidly passed and Jinhyuk wasn't sure if he was ready to face Wooseok just yet, but he was also aware that the more he postponed it, the harder it would be to get the omega back. At this point, he didn't care if he won or lost the photography contest or whatever. He was solely interested in transmitting all of his feelings to the smaller male and hoping that it would be enough to reach him.

Still, a question kept lingering on his mind… Would Wooseok attend? .He knew that it was a possibility but he hadn’t wanted to ponder much about it, it would only make his resolve crumble. Wooseok would go. No, he HAD to go. Otherwise, everything would be lost and broken between them.

The suit he had chosen for the occasion was hanging in front of the door. He looked at it, gave one last sigh, and finally decided to get ready. The ceremony would start in two hours but he was supposed to arrive early just in case the omega decided to show up. The event would take place in an art gallery where all the pictures submitted would be on display except for the top three which were going to be hidden. The judges had already selected the winners beforehand, they would only have to present the prizes and show the winning photographs to the public. A lot of important people would be there, including president Lee Dongwook who was one of the judges of the competition. 

The vampire recalled he had mentioned his mother and siblings about the contest some time ago, but after all the sudden work they had to go through over the last few months, he imagined they would have forgotten and he had no plans to remind them.

It was winter already and the temperature had dropped dramatically that day. It wouldn’t be long until the first snow. He put his hands inside his pockets while he remembered chapped lips meeting each other and hands holding on a cold winter night last year

However, he wasn't able to daydream for long, since the moment he put a foot outside, two pairs of strong arms took hold of him and shoved him inside a car that was parked in front of his building. When he noticed what was going on, it was already too late; the vehicle was already moving. Jinhyuk tried to open the door but the safe made it impossible, moreover a voice beside him startled him.

“Don’t even think about escaping this time,” said his mother with a neutral tone. “You ran away from the press conference last time so I organized a new one just for you.”

“I have another appointment, mother.” He did his best to remain calm; nothing good would come out of that conversation if he lost his composure. 

Inna released an exasperated sigh and took off her sunglasses. “When are you going to realize that this is for your own good?” Jinhyuk remained silent and waited for her to continue. 

The woman proceeded. “I don’t care if you hate me after this… but I’m not losing another son.” Just as he had imagined… This situation was somehow connected to his brother’s death. If he was patient enough, he could learn more about the issue but at the same time, he was already running out of patience. He stole a glance towards his watch; still, two hours to go, maybe he could make it to the gala on time. Furthermore, he had already expected something like this to happen so he was prepared.

__________________________

Where exactly was he going? He didn’t even have the answer to that. 

It had been a while since he had last gone out of his room. After what had happened at the concert, all his friends checked on him regularly. They apologized for their ill behavior towards vampires (especially Seungyoun) and tried to welcome Yein into the group. The vampire still looked a little uncomfortable and taken aback but it wouldn’t be long until he got used to the group. 

Wooseok welcomed the distraction their friends brought but it still wasn’t enough to completely heal him. He had already lost an important part of his heart that couldn’t be replaced with anything. 

The ticket Jinhyuk had given him felt heavy in his pocket. Yohan and Yein had insisted on him going to the gala. They had even offered to accompany him: Yein had his own ticket and Yohan had simply taken the extra one Jinhyuk had given him. “I’ll be your chaperon,” he had said while wiggling his eyebrows. Well... At least one of them was excited.

The omega was torn. On the day of the concert it had been painfully obvious that Jinhyuk was not getting over him and truthfully speaking, there was no way Wooseok could be happy again without the vampire. But what if his supposedly fated mate appeared? He had seen how hurt Jinhyuk was because of him leaving… What if he hurt him even more?

Maybe it would be better not to see Jinhyuk ever again and just cut ties once and for all. 

He just needed a sign. Anything. And he would follow his heart based on that. A million thoughts were going through his head at a speed so fast that he didn’t even notice when he bumped into someone. Once he got out of his daydream, he discovered that his feet had taken him to the park where he and Jinhyuk had shared their first kiss. His mind could try to forget but his body would always remember.

“Can you please look where you’re going?” an annoyed voice spoke from beside him. He focused his attention on the irritated man in front of him. The man seemed to be in his late thirties and, judging from his scent which mildly reminded him of rain, he was a wolf. Wooseok guessed he could be a beta since the scent was not that strong. The man was also inspecting a camera in his hand.

“I’m terribly sorry. I didn’t look where I was going.”

“Yes, I noticed that,” answered the man with a sarcastic tone. Wooseok didn’t like the guts of this guy but it was true that he had been on the wrong this time. 

“Is your camera okay?” 

“If it weren’t okay, you wouldn’t…” the man stopped himself the moment he laid eyes on Wooseok. He might have been wrong, but the omega thought he saw a spark of recognition on them, which confused him since he was pretty sure he had never seen this man before.

The beta squinted his eyes and kept staring at him, no trace of subtlety in his gaze. “Excuse me but… are you… oh… what was the name… Woo...shin?.... Woo...hyuk? No…” The wolf was starting to freak out. “Ah! Wooseok, was it?”

“Do I… know you?” he dared to ask while scanning his surroundings. They were in an open space with other people around after all so the guy wouldn’t dare to do anything funny. However, he still kept his guard up, just in case.

“Ah, yes. Where are my manners? It surely freaked you out that a strange old man knows your name.” He was not answering the question and Wooseok was turning rather impatient. Still, he decided to wait, something in his gut told him he should. “My name is Lee Junghoon. I am Lee Jinhyuk’s mentor, who I think you know pretty well.”

Wooseok almost sank to the floor at the mention of the vampire. He opened and closed his mouth repeatedly but nothing came out. The omega wanted to ask so many questions but he didn’t know where to start or if he even had the right to ask them now that he was no longer going out with Jinhyuk.

The man must have found it amusing because a breathy laugh came out of his lips. “We were never introduced to each other but Jinhyuk told me a lot about you… and not to mention, you are his muse so I had to see your face in his photographs pretty often.” He was about to go on when he noticed that the omega in front of him had started to cry. “Hey, are you okay? Did I say something wrong?”

The omega couldn’t answer, he just kept crying, trying hard to not let his voice out and alert the people around them. Jinhyuk had told someone of another species about them, and he had seemed proud to do so. The other male read the situation and put a hand on Wooseok’s shoulder. “Jinhyuk and I haven’t seen each other that often because he has been busy… Also, he seemed pretty depressed when we spoke over the phone.” The beta sighed and ruffled Wooseok’s hair as if he was talking with a little kid. The omega appreciated that. He didn’t have the energy to work as a functional adult anymore. 

“I don’t know what happened between you two,” the man continued. “I must admit that at first, I was kinda surprised when I heard about this interspecies relationship,” he cleared his throat before moving on. “but meeting Jinhyuk made me realize he is a really nice guy and he is deeply in love with you, Wooseok.” The omega tried to fight the new lump that was forming in his throat. “The road for a relationship like yours is not going to be easy but you have to trust each other. Don’t listen to what other people say about you…” Jinhyuk’s mentor guided his finger towards Wooseok’s heart. “Listen to this instead… the answer lies right here.”

This was it. This was the sign he had been waiting for. With the little strength he had left, he nodded and wiped his tears.

The man smiled at him and took something out of his pocket. “I was about to head to the photography contest gala to see my best student snatch the first place. You’re not going to miss it, right? He told me he would invite you.”

Wooseok remembered the ticket inside his coat pocket. He wouldn’t hesitate anymore. He had to be strong and determined for both of them. Jinhyuk had done his part, it was his turn now.

The omega nodded. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything in the world.”

“Let us go then.” said the other man with a smile and guided the way.

__________________________________

Inna was waiting for his son to complain or to throw a tantrum but Jinhyuk was strangely calm. He was currently sitting on a chair in the middle of the stage, answering the questions that reporters threw at him with ease.

Even though she was suspicious, she couldn’t help but wonder if his son had finally realized why she was doing all of that. She had sworn to protect all of her children... She had already failed with Sooil but he was not going to let Jinhyuk go through the same stuff. The woman wasn’t prepared to lose another son.

Originally, she wanted to go to the photography contest gala with her son. She wanted to let him feel that he had her support, no matter what he decided to pursue… but there were many things at stake. It was probable that the omega would show up and if he had already found his fated mate, it would just be a recipe for disaster. But worst of all, Lee Dongwook would be there. The president. Minsoo’s brother. If he happened to know that Jinhyuk was her son, he would surely disclose some information about Sooil or Minsoo. He didn’t have the right. That family had ruined her son and their lives and she wanted them far away from the rest of her children.

It was better to stop thinking about such troublesome scenarios. She should be paying attention to the questions Jinhyuk was being asked and the way he answered them. However, she wasn't too worried about that since he had been doing an excellent job so far.

That until a young journalist raised her hand and the master of ceremonies gave her permission to ask her question. “Kim Seulgi from Celebrity Scoop.” Inna almost rolled her eyes. Celebrity Scoop was a sensational magazine that was more interested in love scandals and how to make celebrities look your way than in delivering actual news. Who had let them in? She would have a long talk with the security guards.

Since it would be rude to butt in, she just had to hope that Jinhyuk handled the question with professionalism, just as she had trained him to do. 

“Many of our readers have seen your advertisement and they became quite charmed with you, Mr. Jinhyuk, and the thing they want to know the most is if you are single and what’s your ideal type.”

Jinhyuk smiled calmly and stood up from the chair. “That’s quite an interesting question, Miss Kim Seulgi.” He smiled mischievously towards the audience. “My ideal type is brunettes with big eyes and a sharp tongue. Someone who’s shorter than me and who enjoys eating chicken feet while watching old drama reruns. Even though this person’s good looking, they don’t like to boast about it. This person has to sing well but refuse to do it seriously in front of me. Their scent has to remind me of gasoline and they must like winter and cuddling together on the couch while drinking hot cocoa. My ideal type is someone who says they don’t like cheesy presents but surprises you on your anniversary with handmade goods.”

The room had become silent and many of the reporters were looking towards each other with puzzled expressions. Inna couldn’t process what was going on.

“That’s pretty specific.” Answered Kim Seulgi with a nervous laugh.

“Ah, Miss Kim Seulgi… That’s cause I’m talking about a specific someone.” He made his way to the edge of the stage. “To answer your first question: No, I’m not single. I’m dating the most amazing person I have ever met. An omega called Wooseok… And if you excuse me, he might be waiting for me right now."

And just like that, Jinhyuk jumped off the stage and ran towards the exit.

Everyone stood there in shock at first but many of the journalists started screaming orders around and decided to follow him. 

Inna watched everything unfold with a panicked expression. Her feet moved on her own to follow her son.

__________________________

“My happy place.”

That was the theme of the competition. 

Wooseok was honestly intrigued about the mind of photographers and how different their visions were. Some pictures showed beautiful sceneries like gardens filled with color and light or a simple kitchen illuminated by a small lamp; others displayed children smiling happily or parties full of people, and some people seemed to have gone for a simple answer to such an intricate question such as “What is my happy place?” and submitted pictures of exotic dishes or pastries.

But happiness was different for everyone and this exhibition made it clear. There were so many beautiful pictures that the omega was kind of sad they hadn’t won. Meanwhile, the top three pictures were right in the middle of the room and each of them was being covered by a white sheet. They would be revealed at the moment of the winners’ announcement.

He was taken out of his thoughts by the sound of cameras flashing continuously. The sound felt nostalgic since it kind of reminded him of a certain vampire who would wake him up with that same sound. The wolf turned around to look for the source of the noise; it was hard to understand what was going on with all the people around but he could make out a strong mahogany scent coming from someone who had just entered the room.

“Oh my god, he’s here,” muttered Yohan from his side. Wooseok arched an eyebrow, silently demanding an answer. It seemed like everyone in the room had straightened their backs and were paying attention solely to the person who had just walked in. “President Lee Dongwook.”

The omega’s head moved rapidly towards the middle of the room, where the man of the hour was standing at that moment. Someone rapidly handed him a microphone and the president smiled gratefully towards the person before addressing everyone in the room. The alpha thanked every wolf, vampire, and human for attending the gala; he was careful not to leave anyone behind and he mentioned that he appreciated that they all could share this evening like a real community, leaving the differences behind. 

“As you have probably seen already, all the works displayed here are worthy of compliments and prizes but unfortunately I and the other judges could only choose a few. The other two experts are very celebrated photographers and professionals so I’m pretty sure their expertise has helped them a lot to choose a winner. You may be wondering what I, someone who is not a photographer and wouldn’t dare to touch one of those expensive cameras for fear of breaking them, can bring to the table in this kind of contest. Well, I can only tell you that I chose based on what moved my heart. As the saying goes… A picture is worth a thousand words.”

After that, he bowed respectfully and showed a dashing smile that left many omegas and betas (and even some alphas) in the room swooning.

“I must admit… he’s really attractive,” said Yein from behind them with a loud whistle.

“That’s Lee Dongwook for you,” answered Yohan releasing a dreamy sigh. 

Two seconds later, the master of ceremonies announced that they would be revealing the winning pictures, starting from the third place.

Yein looked around with a worried expression. “Jinhyuk should have been here a while ago…He’s not answering my messages. What if he misses the announcement?” 

To tell the truth, Wooseok had tried to ignore the urge to look for Jinhyuk in the crowd but he also knew it was no use. Jinhyuk’s smell would stand out among all the different scents that filled the room.

The third prize had already been announced and revealed. It was a black and white picture of an old woman being hugged from behind by another man. The face of the man did not make it into the frame so it was hard to tell if that was the lady’s son or husband.

The winner stood on the podium and accepted his award. His excitement could be smelled in the whole room, at least werewolves could. The man was an omega and he explained that the people in the picture were his grandparents and they meant a lot to him since they had helped him to accept himself. 

The boy bowed and left the little podium while one of the judges announced that it was time to uncover the final winners.

“It's time.” A voice from beside Wooseok said. The omega looked to his right and found Junghoon, Jinhyuk’s mentor. “If Jinhyuk is not announced as the runner up then that means he won first prize…” the man smiled to himself. Wooseok thought it almost looked like a fatherly smile. “I have no doubts he will… He’s MY student after all.”

The omega smiled fondly. This would be a really big push for Jinhyuk’s career choice and Wooseok had always wanted to be there when that happened, but... will he be able to stand with him in the future?

His thoughts were once again interrupted when Lee Dongwook took the microphone and cleared his throat. “It was a really tough choice but I just want to tell you that all winners remind us of something important. I think you will all agree with that… I believe that the runner up’s picture will hit close to home for some of you.”

The president passed the mic to another one of the judges who calmly announced that the second place went to a human named Park Kahi. Everyone started clapping excitedly, even him. This meant that Jinhyuk had won the first prize.

“Where the hell is this man?” Yein said annoyingly from his left. Wooseok could see how he was typing on his phone frantically, surely texting Jinhyuk but still not getting any answer. The wolf was starting to worry as well and his worry only grew after hearing Yein gasping and shoving his phone screen towards him and Yohan. “You gotta be fucking kidding me.” 

The page opened in Yein’s phone was some sort of news portal and the story’s title read “Young heir of Yoo Inc. runs away from a press conference after a scandalous declaration.” Before Wooseok could read more, Yohan snatched the phone from Yein’s hand and read the title out loud. 

“Wow… This is basically a public declaration of love! You’ve got to read this” The beta looked at Wooseok with a bewildered expression

However, before the conversation could go further, the woman named Kahi revealed her photograph. In the picture, there were two kids showing their backs to the camera and helping each other to make sandcastles. The children in the picture were her two sons and she had taken the picture spontaneously, but for some reason, she couldn’t stop looking at it after that.

Right after another round of applause, Kahi left the stage and Lee Dongwook grabbed the mic one last time. “I think we can all agree that most of the time, our happy places are the people closest to us… and that’s not the exception with the winning picture. I must admit I was impressed the moment I looked at it. I shall remind you that this is one of the first totally inclusive contests we have had since my administration started; every species was invited to participate. At first, I wasn’t really sure about it but after I looked at this photo, my resolve only got stronger and I hope you can all feel as moved as I felt when I first looked at it. Seeing everyone gathered here -humans, werewolves, and vampires- gives me hope for the future that awaits us…” Wooseok wondered if everyone in the gallery agreed with what the president was saying but he was surprised to find many people applauding and nodding along. Maybe he could be hopeful too…

“Without further ado, let me introduce the winner of the first place, Mr. Lee Jinhyuk.” Lee Dongwook left the podium to make way for Jinhyuk but the room filled with confused looks when no one approached the judges. The alpha president looked at the crowd and arched a brow. “Is Lee Jinhyuk here? If not, then I guess I’ll uncover his picture myself.”

Dongwook started making his way towards the big picture, and right as he was about to pull the white sheet that covered it, a very familiar scent filled Wooseok's senses. The scent of a fire getting closer and burning everything down along its way.

"That won't be necessary.” There it was. That same voice that made him tremble but which also made him feel safe.

Jinhyuk had just arrived. He was out of breath so it was pretty clear he had run to get there. Behind him, there were a bunch of other people, pointing cameras towards the center of the gallery. The vampire paid no mind to them and simply stood beside president Lee, he shook the latter’s hand and apologized for being late. Though Dongwook looked confused, he simply shook his head, smiled at him, and signaled towards the covered picture so that Jinhyuk could finally reveal it.

Before pulling the white sheet down, Jinhyuk scanned the room until his eyes met Wooseok’s. That gaze caught the omega’s breath. It was just like their first meeting all over again, like there was no one but the two of them.

Once the sheet was down, a collective gasp could be heard from the whole room. Wooseok’s eyes and mouth opened in surprise while he stared at the picture in front of him.

It was a picture of him. 

But not just any picture. He was sleeping in Jinhyuk’s bed but that was not all, there was a collection of Jinhyuk’s shirts, pants, jackets, and scarves gathered around him, creating a perfect circle. Wooseok was right in the middle, burying his face in one of Jinhyuk’s shirts.

It was a picture of him  _ nesting _ .

Jinhyuk, clearly a vampire, had made it clear that his happy place was an omega, a werewolf. No wonder people were flabbergasted. However, Jinhyuk’s eyes never left the omega’s, not even when he grabbed the mic.

“I’m the happiest when I’m with my lover, Kim Wooseok. We have gone through a lot together, sometimes the challenges are very significant for people like us but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ll always choose him, no matter what.”

Wooseok didn’t know the exact moment he had started to cry, maybe it was before he commenced his speech or maybe it had been long before Jinhyuk had arrived but that wasn’t important at that moment. What really mattered was that Wooseok was no longer afraid, he was no longer hesitant. He didn’t care if the world was against them or the judgemental looks they would get; hell, he didn’t even care if some random alpha appeared claiming to be his fated mate… How come he had doubted their feelings for each other? It was so painfully clear now.

President Lee Dongwook quickly read the room and grabbed the microphone from Jinhyuk’s hand quickly. “I know this must come as a surprise to many of you but this is exactly what I’m striving for. A society that does not judge anyone, one where we can find in another person a lover, a brother, a sister, or a friend regardless of their species. They deserve all happiness and respect in the world.”

“Big words coming from you.” A loud voice interrupted the man’s speech. Every camera turned towards the woman who was now approaching the speaker. “When you and your family took my happiness away.”

“Inna…” muttered Dongwook with a serious expression.

_______________

“Mother? What do you mean?” Jinhyuk was not surprised that his mother had followed him, he actually wanted her to do it so that she could finally understand just how strong his feelings for Wooseok were but he never expected her to have some kind of personal issue with Lee Dongwook.

“I think it’s time to reveal to the public how your family hid the fact that your brother was dating a vampire, my son.”

After the scandalous revelation, people started whispering among themselves and there was more than one surprised expression among the audience. Jinhyuk was as appalled or maybe even more than everyone else. Sooil had dated a werewolf? Why had he never known about it?

“Your brother broke up with my son, ghosted him, ignored him, and Sooil ended up taking his life. You were so ashamed that you changed your surname so that the scandal wouldn’t taint your political career. When I asked for explanations, you just told me that Minsoo had found his fated mate. So now he’s out there being happy while my son is no longer here.”

The woman’s voice was turning louder with each sentence and Jinhyuk felt a pang on his chest with every word. Inna looked towards him and her eyes were filled with deep sadness but also determination… to not let her kids suffer again. She tore his gaze away from Jinhyuk and looked at the alpha in front of her. “Even though you know about all the suffering this kind of relationship brings… You’re still encouraging my other son to follow that same path?!”

Dongwook remained silent. His shoulders fell and he gave off an aura of defeat as if he had been reminded of something he would have rather kept buried. But despite the sadness he emanated, Jinhyuk could also see some traces of the same determination his mother had.

The alpha took a deep breath and faced the accusations that Inna threw at his feet. “The way my family handled this matter could indeed have been better…” He then straightened his posture and looked at the crowd; the vampire thought he looked like a real president. “I haven’t been honest with you all and I think it’s time to share my side of the story. Truth is, I have my own reasons as to why my main goal is to bridge the gap between species and it has everything to do with what Miss Yoo mentioned.”

He stood on the podium, but this time he didn’t lose his posture or his calmness. “It’s true. My brother, Go Minsoo, used to be in a relationship with a vampire who, coincidentally, was also Yoo Inna’s son, Sooil.” Jinhyuk felt his body shiver when he heard his brother’s name. “And I admit that my family was to blame in this matter. They were worried about their reputation and how the news would affect my political career if they ever saw the light… so they forced Minsoo to break things off with Sooil.”

Inna’s eyes darted rapidly towards the man while she arched a brow. The alpha president continued, this time diverting his attention to the vampire lady. “We haven’t been completely honest with you either, Inna. In truth, there was no fated mate. It was all a lie made up by my parents to destroy their relationship… but Minsoo had initially refused to cooperate so he was locked up for a long time.” That man, who looked so strong and imponent, suddenly looked small. “He refused to eat, he didn’t sleep at all. I was busy with work so I neglected him and couldn’t stop him from… following Sooil’s path.” Inna couldn’t believe what she was hearing and her expression made it plain to see.

Dongwook looked at the crowd and the cameras in the back one last time. “Two lives were lost because of stupid adult’s mistakes who were so blinded by hate and prejudice that they failed to think of their family’s happiness… That’s why I advocate for union, respect, and acceptance among species, so no one has to go through such a tragedy again.”

It all finally made sense to Jinhyuk. Why his mother did the things she did, why she had that cold demeanor whenever Lee Dongwook was mentioned. 

“So you’re telling me… I did all those horrible things to my son and he… He could have ended like Sooil.” His mother’s lips were quivering. Jinhyuk hadn’t seen her lose her composure like that for a long time. Before he could react, Dongwook put a hand on Inna’s shoulder. 

“If anyone is at fault, it should be me from hiding the truth from you. I promise I’ll do anything in my hand to make up for everything.” 

Inna looked at his son with a sorrowful expression. “I’m so…. I’m so sorry.” 

The vampire shook his head and didn’t think twice before hugging her. “You were worried about me… I understand.” He brushed her hair slowly, in an attempt to make her calm down. “I’m sorry for not doing it before.” The woman shook his head on Jinhyuk’s shoulder.

“You don’t have to apologize to me…” She pulled away from the hug and caressed his son’s cheek. “I couldn’t be prouder of my son. I don’t know if I deserve to be forgiven just yet but I’ll be better for you and your brother and sister. Now go… I think there’s someone you have to see.”

Jinhyuk nodded and started to make his way to his happy place. The place where he wanted to be more than anywhere else.

Once he stood in front of Wooseok, he took a moment to appreciate his omega’s factions. His cheeks were damp from tears but his eyes were still as beautiful as he remembered. Without saying a word, he sneaked his hand toward the omega’s and pulled him towards the exit. The reporters were quite busy with Dongwook’s story but he knew they would want to talk to him later so he had to be quick. Luckily the werewolf didn’t put any resistance and followed him.

When they headed out, they noticed that little white droplets were falling from the sky.  _ The first snow _ . Jinhyuk stared at Wooseok one more time and without having to say anything, they started running. They both seemed to know exactly where they were supposed to go, so they matched their steps and breaths together. 

Even though it was the beginning of December, the park was already filled with Christmas decorations but they were too occupied catching their breath to pay attention to the floating lights. 

After he had calmed down, Jinhyuk slowly guided his hand towards Wooseok’s cheek but he didn't touch it at once. He left it hanging in the air, waiting for Wooseok’s permission which was granted the moment the omega used his own hand to guide Jinhyuk’s to his face. The werewolf shuddered because of the coldness but he didn’t let go.

“I’m sorry.” Wooeok started saying with a sad expression. “I didn’t know… I… I just wanted you to be happy.”

The vampire shushed the omega softly and stroked his cheek. “I understand… but you also need to know…” he then traced the smaller boy’s eyelashes with his thumb. “...that my happiness…” then he moved it towards his nose. “...is right here.” His fingers finally landed on Wooseoks’ lips. How he had missed the feeling of the omega’s breath brushing his fingertips.

And just like that, Wooseok closed his eyes and Jinhyuk knew exactly what to do after that. 

The kiss wasn’t gentle at all, they had been away from each other too much to simply be satisfied with that but in spite of being quite aggressive, they tried to keep it slow; there was no reason to rush things, not when they were finally in each other’s arms again.

_________________________

Many things happened after that.

Yoo Inc’s sales skyrocketed with the new camera so the Yoo family campaign was considered a success. Though Inna had wanted Jinhyuk to participate in other projects, the latter decided to focus on pursuing photography professionally, with the aid of his teacher Junghoon. His mother didn’t oppose it and she even proposed to sponsor his son’s career. However, Jinhyuk had refused because he wanted to become more independent.

He would still be living in the apartment his mother had bought for him though, but he had plans to move in with Wooseok once the omega graduated. It would be one year of waiting, maybe more but he would be alright. They would make it work as they always had.

Inna had also apologized to Wooseok sincerely and showered him with gifts to make up for the bad moment she made him go through. Wooseok was a little overwhelmed but he thought it would be rude to reject the gifts so he just smiled and nodded. Both Inna and Wooseok were in contact very often and they sometimes went out to have some ramen and talk about Jinhyuk’s shenanigans. Jinhyuk often joked that Wooseok spoke with his mother more than he did.

The vampire had also organized a family dinner so that his brother and sister could meet Wooseok. Truth was, they had already seen him in every news portal after the scene that had taken place in the gallery. In fact, everyone in town knew about them by now. They had even been offered to be interviewed but they had politely declined. In truth, they didn’t want their relationship to be a show, on the contrary, they expected that it became something normal for the rest of the community. Some people snickered at them when they saw them passing by while others flooded their social media with encouraging words. Jinhyuk had been worried about Wooseok not liking the attention and he had apologized for accidentally outing them without his consent but Wooseok had simply laughed and said he was happier with people knowing about them.

In Wooseok’s case, no alpha at the university dared to get too close and personal with him anymore, apart from his friends and he couldn’t be more relieved. The vampires who were exchange students quickly became more comfortable in the classes Wooseok was attending and a lot of werewolves were becoming more accepting of them.

He had apologized to his friends for having kept the secret from them but he soon found out that he was not the only one keeping secrets in the group. It turns out that in the middle of his secluded days, Yohan and Junho had become an item, marking them as the other known interspecies couple on campus, with Yohan being a beta and Junho being a human. Another thing that surprised him was finding out that Hangyul and Seungyoun had been dating for two years already; very rare indeed taking into account the fact that they were both alphas, but who was Wooseok to judge them? If they were happy, that was all that mattered.

The omega’s library visits continued so that Wooseok could help Yein who was feeling kinda moody because the other vampires were trying to get close to Wooseok. “Just remember I was your first vampire friend. Not even Jinhyuk can take that away from me.” The omega was thankful to the little vampire for all the help so he made sure to be extra nice to Yein. And of course, there were times when Yein took advantage of that kindness and gave Wooseok a little bit of extra work here and there.

As regards Wooseok’s family, the omega had gone to his mothers' house the day after the contest to come clean to them but of course, Doyeon and Yoojung had been glued to the television the moment a neighbor told them their son was on TV. It was kind of an awkward conversation, especially taking into account Yoojung and Wooseok’s fight the last time they had met each other but Doyeon scolded them both for being hot-headed and cursed herself for not being there at the time.

“I swear you’re both so passionate you made a whole drama of something we could have resolved with a talk.” Doyeon sighed while looking at her wife and son who were looking anywhere but at her. She had not only referred to Wooseok’s issue but also addressed Yoojung’s past relationship with a vampire. The small woman had confessed everything when she had finished her call with Woojin. She was so scared of Doyeon getting angry and judging her but her mate had just sighed and embraced her. “What kind of mate would I be if I judged you for something like that? I love you too much, Choi Yoojung but you’re too dumb sometimes.”

Both Doyeon and Yoojung were okay with Wooseok’s relationship and his omega mother apologized for not thinking about Wooseok’s feelings. After a quiet afternoon together, they both demanded that Wooseok spent Christmas with them and that he brought Jinhyuk along so that they could officially meet him.

Wooseok knew they wouldn’t let him go until he accepted so he had no other choice. He was kind of nervous at the prospect of Jinhyuk meeting his mothers but he would cross that bridge when he got there. 

Right before he left, Doyeon whispered in her ear. “I’m planning to have other special guests at Christmas, so don’t skip.” After that, she just winked and closed the door. To say Wooseok was confused would be an understatement.

________________

“Maybe she will invite your grandpa?” Seungwoo suggested. They were all currently in a cafe inside the shopping mall, relaxing after doing some last-minute Christmas shopping. 

“I hope she doesn’t” The omega answered with a sigh and this made Jinhyuk’s interest perk up.

“Oh? Why? What’s your grandpa like?” The rest of the boys on the table looked at the vampire with a playful smile.

“The old man used to be a vampire hunter back in the day,” explained Hangyul while he played with his cup which, mind you, still had some iced coffee left. Wooseok was scared that he would end up making a mess.

Seungyoun picked up from where his lover had left, “Yeah, we met him once and he told us about a time he decapitated one with a shovel, and of course, then he set the body on fire. He looked delighted…”

“What?!” Both Jinhyuk and Yein exclaimed with an alarmed tone which made the rest of the boys laugh out loud.

Wooseok tried his best not to but he couldn’t resist the urge. “They’re just messing with you, babe.” The vampire looked betrayed after that confession so Wooseok affectionately caressed his lover’s arm.

“No, but the truth is Wooseok’s grandpa is overly affectionate and pretty possessive of him so… good luck!” Wished Yohan with a playful wink and Jinhyuk could only sigh, which made everyone burst into laughter once again.

It was still surprising how they were all getting along so well, so much that Wooseok felt like an idiot for not introducing Jinhyuk to his friends before. He could finally say he was honestly happy with his life and he was lucky to be surrounded but such amazing people who never abandoned him no matter how much of an idiot he had been.

His boyfriend quickly glanced towards his watch and proceeded to tell Wooseok that it was time to get going. They both said goodbye to their friends and hopped into Jinhyuk’s car. The vampire entered Wooseok’s house address in the GPS and they were good to go but something was missing… Without saying a word, Jinhyuk opened his palm after handling the gear stick and the omega didn’t even need to ask. His delicate fingers intertwined with Jinhyuk’s rough and cold ones.

They never let go, not even when they stood right in front of the door. The funny thing is nobody made a move to enter so they just stood there for a while.

“You’re nervous.” It wasn’t a question. Wooseok could see clearly that a million thoughts were racing inside his boyfriend’s head. “Hey! It’s not like they don’t know you. They were watching the news when all the gallery stuff happened.”

“That’s what makes this even more embarrassing… I’m scared they won’t fully accept me because I’m not your fated mate.” The werewolf had filled him in on his initial conversation with Yoojung to explain why he had suddenly disappeared and decided to do what he did. Luckily, Jinhyuk hadn’t gotten angry at Wooseok’s mother. This whole experience had helped him mature a lot and see things from another perspective so he could kind of understand the woman’s worries… but that didn’t mean he was less scared.

Wooseok tightened the grip on his boyfriend’s hand. “Hey, look at me.” Jinhyuk tore his gaze apart from the door and moved it towards his small lover. “Fated or not, you’re still my mate.” The vampire sighed at first but then he puffed his chest and knocked on the door with his free hand. 

Not long after that, a beautiful woman with black long hair and dark eyes opened the door. Was this one of Wooseok’s mothers? He could definitely see now where the omega had inherited his good looks from. “Welcome.” She said in a calm tone and proceeded to scan Jinhyuk from top to bottom. “We were wondering how long you would stand in front of the door like a pair of snowmen.” 

The omega immediately blushed after that. “Y-you were watching us?!” 

“You know my favorite seat is always next to the window.” The woman said with a sly smile while pointing to the spot in question. After that, she fixed her gaze on Jinhyuk again and put a hand on the vampire’s shoulder. Jinhyuk almost jumped out of surprise. “I’m Kim Doyeon. You must be Jinhyuk… No need to be nervous, you’re part of the family now.” She gestured towards a wardrobe next to the door so that they could put their coats there.

“After that please take your seats on the table as soon as you can. The special guests are already there.” She then addressed her son. “I’m gonna check up on your mom, don’t take too long.”

“Is there anything I can help you with?” Both Wooseok and Doyeon looked at the vampire with surprise. The alpha smiled and shook her head.

“Tonight you both should just relax. We already handled everything by ourselves but thanks for the offer, Jinhyuk.” After that, she winked at them and disappeared into the dining room.

When the lovers finished hanging their coats, they also headed towards the dining room but once the table and the guests came into view, they both stopped in their tracks.

Jinhyuk arched his brow and Wooseok did nothing to hide his surprise. 

Right there, sitting at his mothers' table were two vampires. Neither Wooseok nor Jinhyuk knew who they were. One of them had a cute face and full chapped lips while the other had very prominent eyebrows and looked serious. 

The one with a cute face noticed them first and he quickly slapped his companion's knee and whispered something in his ear. After that, the other one looked at them and couldn’t contain his surprise.

Before they could say something, Doyeon and Yoojung came from the kitchen with trays of food and placed them on the table.

“Oh! You have already met each other!” said the alpha woman with a delighted expression. “Sit down, come on.”

Still, with confused looks, Wooseok and Jinhyuk sat down on the table. Jinhyuk took the precaution of sitting next to one of the vampires so that Wooseok wouldn’t have to deal with having an unfamiliar and repulsive scent next to him.

“Welcome to our house Jinhyuk. It’s a pleasure having you here.” commented the short woman with a sincere smile. The vampire felt like a fool for having been scared of this woman’s reaction. So far, they both had been really nice to him.

“Um… mom?” Wooseok tried to speak in a hushed voice but all eyes turned to him. “I don’t think we have been properly introduced.

“Oh! Sorry! I guess I should do the introductions.” The short woman looked embarrassed. She looked at the pair of vampires and gestured towards the omega. “This is my son, the one I’ve talked to you about, and that’s his boyfriend, Jinhyuk.”

“Yeah, we know them! They’re practically celebrities!” Replied the cute vampire with an excited tone. “I watched you on TV, you were so brave…”

His companion finally smiled and congratulated both for their relationship. Jinhyuk noticed at that moment that the man had a snaggletooth.

“Wooseok... “ this time Yoojung addressed her son and signaled the snaggletooth vampire with a hand. “This is Park Woojin, an… old friend.”

After the awkward introduction, Doyeon started laughing out loud, followed by the cute vampire. “Oh my god, this is so funny.”

Wooseok rapidly covered his face with his hands. He wasn’t sure if it was to contain his laughter as well or to just disappear from that awkward encounter. Jinhyuk looked at Wooseok with a confused expression and Wooseok whispered to him. “Remember I told you my mom dated a vampire too? Well… that’s the guy.”

“No way!” exclaimed Jinhyuk out loud, which only made Doyeon laugh harder.

Park Woojin turned towards Wooseok and Jinhyuk and gave them a dashing smile. “Nice to meet you guys.” He then proceeded to hold the other vampire’s hand and move him forward so that the couple could see him properly. “This is my beautiful husband, Park Jihoon.”

Jihoon nodded and waved at them with an excited smile. “Excuse my excitement but I had no idea that Woojin knew a pair of celebrities.” 

Yes, Wooseok definitely wanted to disappear. His alpha mother kept laughing and Jinhyuk had decided to join her.

"After Yoojung came clean to me, I decided to invite them," said Doyeon cheerfully while she hugged her tiny wife from behind. The female omega sighed and tilted her head up so she can look at her mate's eyes. 

"You've always been full of surprises." 

After that, the dark-haired alpha booped her mate's nose. "And you love me for that." Yoojung could only blush and nod and Doyeon found it so adorable that she had to kiss the omega's forehead.

"Your moms are adorable," whispered Jinhyuk with a smile. "No wonder you're such a cutie." The vampire decided to imitate Doyeon's behavior and tried to boop the cute omega's nose but Wooseok looked at him with an unamused smiled and tried to bite his finger.

The table had turned into pure laughter until a small voice interrupted the fun.

“What are you all laughing about?” Suddenly a new voice came from the hallway.

_ “A kid.”  _ was the first thing that came into Jinhyuk’s mind when he looked at the boy who had appeared in front of them. He later learned that the boy was sixteen years old but he looked way younger.

“Oh, Hyeongjun, you always take too long in the bathroom,” said Jihoon with an endearing expression and gestured towards the seat in front of him. “Also, say hello to Wooseok and Jinhyuk.”

Once the boy named Hyeongjun set his eyes on them, he gasped. “No way… They’re the ones from TV!” The boy’s excitement made everyone laugh once again.

“That’s Woojin and Jihoon’s son. His name is Hyeongjun.”

“Nice to meet you!” said the boy excitedly, and he didn’t lose any time to munch the first thing he had in front of him.

“Son?... But he’s not a…”

“Ah, yes, Hyeongjun is a human,” answered Woojin before Jinhyuk could finish his sentence. “Luckily, they let us adopt him but we’ll let him decide if he wants to be converted to a vampire when he’s of age.”

“At first he wanted to be converted so bad but now… I don’t think that’s the case.” casually added Jihoon before taking a sip from his blood cup. Yoojung and Doyeon had bothered to bring out a blood keg so that their vampire guests wouldn’t feel left out. Wooseok was kind of touched after seeing how well they had prepared for this.

“Dad!” said Hyeongjun scandalized while Woojin sighed.

Jihoon put a hand on the side of his mouth so that his son wouldn’t try to read his lips. “He has a crush on a werewolf.” Whispered Jihoon excitedly, and Hyeongjun looked ready to hide under the table.

“But don’t worry about that, son… You can still turn into a vampire and be in a relationship with that wolf boy. Look at Wooseok and Jinhyuk.” added Jihoon, trying to give his son a little encouragement.

“Can we please change the topic?” said Hyeongjun and Woojin at the same time, which made everyone at the table laugh again.

Wooseok and Jinhyuk both agreed that had been the best Christmas of their lives. And hopefully, they would go through many more together.

The road would not always be the happiest or the easiest but they had learned to rely on each other. They’d keep striving to show everyone that every kind of love was valid and every person deserved to be treated nicely despite their species.

After all, as the saying goes… Love conquers all.


End file.
